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More good news for dark chocolate lovers... a recent report has identified the precise molecular mechanism that explains dark chocolate health benefits come from a compound in the chocolate that protects the heart, and can guard against the damage of a stroke.

The substance is a flavanol known as epicatechin that sets in motion two built in protective pathways in the brain that shield nerve cells from damage as the result of stroke.

The work was conducted on mice who were induced to suffer a stroke. The researchers gave different doses of epicatechin to the mice 90 minutes before a stroke and found that it significantly reduced infarct size, the measurement used to assess stroke damage.

The protective effect lasted up to 3.5 hours, but not longer than 6 hours. The substance was found to offer no protection to mice that had been bred without these brain pathways.

The team of researchers was careful to focus on cocoa over chocolate. The truth is, eating lots of chocolate is never going to be a healthy choice, but moderating your intake and enjoying other healthy foods just might be.

Interestingly, it was research involving the cocoa drinking Kuna Indians that led experts to study epicatechin in the first place. These people have an unusually low incidence of stroke and other heart disease that can't be explained by genetics, and was eventually attributed to drinking of very bitter cocoa drink. The substance was identified as the protective ingredient in dark chocolate by studies conducted by other scientists, including those out of Harvard Medical School.

It makes sense that cocoa, which comes from plants after all, would have a measure of the natural, good-for-you substances found in dark fruits or veggies.

Flavonoids in dark chocolate are known to be nearly 8 times those found in strawberries, they function as antioxidants that protect the cells of the body from damage caused by free radicals. They also help lower blood pressure by producing nitric oxide and balancing some hormones in the body.

And while some will tell you that chocolate of all kinds does have fats, the good news is that only 1/3 of the fat in dark chocolate is bad for you.

That is not to suggest you indulge without restraint, the experts recommend you keep your dark chocolate intake to no more than 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) a day to get the benefits without struggling with weight issues because of the added calories.

It's important to keep in mind that in getting dark chocolate health benefits the calories you take in be balanced by lessening the amount you take in someplace else. This latest research in animals supports the idea that epicatechin could be used to treat stroke in people. Despite the promise, using this substance to address stroke outside the laboratory is a way off - risks and side effects of the substance must first be studied. Natural does not always mean without risk.

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