Is this the best diet news ever? Eating plenty of chocolate can keep you SLIM.

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It seems like news that really is too good to be true.
Rather than being a major factor in piling on the pounds, eating large amounts of chocolate is one of the best ways to lose weight, a study has found.
Spanish researchers examined the diets and healthy activities of 1,500 teenagers aged between 12 and 17 in nine European countries, including Spain and the UK.
They found that people who admitted eating large amounts of chocolate had, on average, far lower levels of fat over their bodies.
In particular, they were trimmer around the stomach area - regardless of whether they had an active lifestyle or were on a diet.
Chocolate was also found to have a positive effect on circulation, blood pressure and heart health.
The study, from the University of Granada, backs up earlier findings from the University of California that suggested regular chocolate eaters have less body fat.
This may be because while chocolate contains more calories than many other foods, it appears to make the metabolism work harder, offsetting the fat that otherwise might hang around.
There's also the issue of denial. A recent poll found that 86 per cent of slimmers who carried on enjoying their favourite treats successfully lost weight.

 

Janet Aylott, a nutrition scientist for Nutracheck, which commissioned the survey, said: ‘Extensive research has proven that diets centred around food elimination are much more likely to fail.
‘The key is to take a more relaxed approach and to have a little of what you like.’ 
Previous research has shown that dieters who completely eliminate treats such as chocolate, wine and biscuits  are often more likely to put on weight as they ‘compensate’ by eating more of  other foods.

Regular chocolate eaters were also were trimmer around the stomach area - regardless of whether they were active or on a diet

One study even showed that as many as 65 per cent of those who give up all treats actually end up ballooning in weight.
Another recent study from the University of Cambridge found people who enjoyed chocolate every day were 29 per cent less likely to have a stroke and 37 per cent less likely to suffer with heart disease than those who avoided it most of the time.
It is the flavonoids in cocoa beans - a key ingredient in chocolate - that seem responsible for the health benefits of chocolate. These flavonoids (also found in tea and red wine) act as antioxidants, which help mop up an excess of cell-damaging free radicals.
As a rule, the higher the cocoa content, the more flavonoids and the greater the health benefits - dark chocolate with 40 per cent cocoa solids contains five times more flavonoids than white chocolate and twice as many as milk chocolate.

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