Nutrition and Cardiovascular Disease

		Jo Ann Carson, PhD, RD/LD Section Editor, Nutrition & Cancer Section Editor, Nutrition & Cardiovascular Disease Professor, Department of Clinical Nutrition UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Healthy Women: Chocolate
Posted: February 2005
Source: UT Southwestern Health Watch

This week on "Healthwatch," we'll be focusing on women's health issues - things women need to know to protect and improve their health.

Chocolate is both a blessing and a curse for women - it's a treat that adds pleasure to life, but it can also wreak havoc on a diet. Nutrition experts at UT Southwestern Medical Center say chocolate can actually offer health benefits - in the right form.

Cocoa beans are a good source of antioxidants that can help prevent heart disease. The negative health effects come from the things that are added to chocolate to turn it into candy - things like milk, sugar and butter.

UT Southwestern nutrition experts suggest drinking dark hot chocolate instead of eating a candy bar because it can be as good for your heart as a glass of red wine.