You slept through the alarm and missed your bus, blew your math quiz, and twisted your ankle in gym class. You trudge home and head straight to the kitchen for a snack. Sure, an apple or yogurt would be a healthy choice, but instead you treat yourself to a big slice of chocolate cake. But before you feel too guilty, here’s some good news: the latest research shows that chocolate may actually help prevent heart disease. It may be possible to have your cake and eat it too.

Cocoa beans are rich in aromatic compounds called flavonoids, which are also present in tea, red wine, and many fruits and vegetables. So far, more than 4,000 different flavonoids have been identified. Plants synthesize these water-soluble compounds from the amino acid phenylalanine and acetate. Flavonoids act as antioxidants, neutralizing the effects of free radicals that can damage cells and tissues. A 1.5 ounce bar of dark chocolate contains roughly 800 milligrams of antioxidants ? about the same as a cup of black tea; milk chocolate contains about half that much. But new findings indicate that it’s not just the amount of flavonoids in cocoa that’s significant, but the potency of these particular compounds.

At a chocolate symposium sponsored by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, researchers reported that the flavonoids prevalent in cocoa are potent antioxidants. They limit the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) ? the “bad” cholesterol ? which can prevent plaque from forming in arterial walls.

In a study sponsored by the candy company Mars, Inc., researchers from the University of California, Davis, also found that flavonoids in chocolate increase the concentration of nitric oxide in the body. They theorize that this contributes to cardiovascular health, as nitric oxide production relaxes the inner surface of blood vessels.

Another outcome of the chocolate studies is that the manufacturing process inadvertently destroys the antioxidant compounds in chocolate. Mars has developed a new process to preserve the flavonoids in their products. Soon those products made by this process and sold in the U.S. will carry the label “Cocoapro.”

Should we trust the findings on the benefits of chocolate when the research is funded by chocolate makers? John Erdman, a nutritionist at the University of Illinois and co-chair of the AAAS symposium on chocolate, acknowledges that skepticism is understandable. On the other hand, he notes that without this funding, the research would not take place at all. It’s unlikely that medical experts will start urging people to eat more chocolate ? it contains far too much sugar and fat to qualify as a health food. But Americans already consume an average of 12 pounds of chocolate per year, and science may establish that this guilty pleasure isn’t so guilty after all.

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