Last week was Valentine’s Day or what some people refer to ask national chocolate day. From some news reports, more chocolate is sold and consumed on Valentine’s Day than any other day of the year, including Halloween and Mother’s Day.

Walk through many stores in the month prior to Valentine’s Day and you’ll see many boxes of assorted chocolates, chocolate hearts, chocolate kisses and closer to the day you’ll see chocolate covered nuts, strawberries, cherries and other fruits. There are chocolate cakes, donuts, cupcakes and pies as well as ice cream. There is milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and even a pink chocolate and chocolate with flakes of real gold mixed in and even roses dipped in chocolate.  It’s also a popular day for the rental of chocolate fountains.

Chocolate is so popular, especially among women, that there have been studies to see if there were addictive properties in chocolate, but none were found. Addictive or not, many ladies, including my wife, believe that chocolate is a major and vital food group.

I hate to burst to the bubble of many people, but did you know that raw chocolate (cacao) is actually a soluble fat?

While we generally think of any kind of fat as being bad, it turns out that the more they look at the properties of the soluble fat known as cacao (chocolate), the more health benefits they discover.

A report from July 2018, states:

They say a new report not only shows that dark chocolate is high in antioxidants, which may help your heart and your brain, it may also help you see better…

Another report from December 2018, states:

Amid a new report in Eating Well that chocolate, in particular, dark chocolate, can reduce the risk of heart failure,…

And yet, another report lists 5 health benefits of cacao:

1. 40 times the antioxidants than blueberries.
2. Highest plant-based source of iron.
3. Full of magnesium for healthy heart and brain.
4. More calcium than cow’s milk.
5. A natural mood elevator and anti-depressant.

But for one man and others suffering from the same affliction, chocolate is helping them walk, as reported:

John Conner is grateful to be able to walk in the snow or anywhere.

The 62-year-old has peripheral artery disease, which leaves patients with debilitating pain, tightness and cramping in the leg muscles.

“I couldn’t walk one block without stopping, I couldn’t go up a flight of stairs,” Conner said. “I was in constant pain throughout the day.”

PAD is a narrowing of the arteries, which reduces blood flow from the heart to the legs.

Conner was among 44 PAD patients who took part in a study, looking at whether cocoa could help.

Some drank a cocoa beverage rich in flavanols, which scientists believe have hearth health benefits. Others drank a placebo.

In the end, patients who drank the cocoa were able to walk much further on a six-minute walking test.

“Those who drank the cocoa beverage had greater improvement in their skeletal muscle health,” Dr. Mary McDermott said. “They also had greater improvement in the blood flow to their legs at six-month followup.”

Researchers say the cocoa drink used in the study was made with dark chocolate, which contains more beneficial nutrients than other types.

Who knows what health benefit of chocolate will be discovered next. Perhaps chocolate, especially dark chocolate, should be labeled the wonder food of the decade.