Snack on nuts, drizzle a little olive oil, grab an apple, dine on fish, bite a chocolate. All these foods can help you lower your cholesterol.

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is made by the liver. It is a part of every cell in the body and serves many vital functions. However, sometimes our bodies make more cholesterol than we need, and this excess cholesterol circulates in the bloodstream. High levels of cholesterol in the blood can clog blood vessels and increase the risk for heart disease and stroke.

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As Valentine’s Day approaches, the American Chemical Society (ACS) – the world’s largest scientific society, has released a new Bytesize Science video today featuring five chemistry facts that highlight why chocolate, in moderation, may be good for you.

The video, produced by the ACS Office of Public Affairs, is available at www.BytesizeScience.com

The video explains how a bar of chocolate contains hundreds of compounds, many with beneficial properties.

Among the video’s “sweet” facts were that chocolate may improve your mood, and not just because of its delicious flavor.

Chocolate contains a number of chemicals that inhibit the breakdown of the neurotransmitter anandamide — sometimes called “the molecule of bliss” — which can block feelings of pain and depression.

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Chocolate milk tops the list when it comes to fuelling yourself after a hard session at the gym.

This is because every cup of chocolate milk contains between eight and 11 grams of protein.

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also found that, when taken immediately after exercise, milk-based proteins promote greater muscle protein synthesis than soy-based proteins, Fox News reported.

Finally, another reason why post-workout chocolate milk is beneficial is because cow”s milk contains about 80 percent casein protein content and 20 percent whey protein content.

This is ideal because the whey protein is fast-acting, allowing amino acids to get right into the muscle tissue, while the casein protein is digested slower, providing a steady stream of amino acids over a lengthier period of time.

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How your diet can boost your brain

You could say this article is quite literally ‘food for thought’. The food you eat directly affects the performance of your brain, so, by choosing the right foodstuffs to consume, you can boost your brain power, sharpen your memory and keep your mind young.

Got a health query? As our experts

A balanced diet is probably the most sound advice when it comes down to prescribing healthy eating tips, but there are some types of food — or ‘brain food’ — which are considered especially good for brain health. Here are a few of the best to chew over:

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I am sure there are others like me who do not eat chocolates. Somehow chocolates have always been related to spoilt teeth or weight gain. When the whole female world went reaching for it at their various hormonal stages, I would snub them, reaching for Bengali sweets to appease my moods.

But of late I find myself liking dark chocolates and craving for its texture and taste. I have these 60 %, 72% and 86% dark chocolates individually wrapped – intense mood elevating therapies- sitting in my freezer.

Yes, as a nutritionist I know how to eat them without guilt, for dark chocolate is not just a comfort food for us all at some level, it has healing properties in as much as red wine or green tea.

So what does it do?

Dark chocolates and cocoa contain the flavonols known as procyanidins and epicatechins which are antioxidants. These are found in the extracts of the cocoa bean. So lesser the bean is processed, darker the chocolate, and the healthier it is for your heart. Emerging research shows dark chocolates with over 60% cocoa mayreduce LDL cholesterol, reduce blood pressure aid in better blood flow to heart and brains reduce risk of blood clots and possibly improve cognitive function and thinking ability in older people

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We all crave `bad` foods from time to time, but your cravings could signal more than you think. Check out these hidden meanings behind five common food cravings and find out how you can overcome them.

What you crave: Chocolate
What you need: Magnesium

Chocolate is one of the world`s most commonly craved foods and, while you may feel as though you are addicted to the sweet treat, it is believed that what many of us are craving when we are hankering after some chocolate is in fact the mineral magnesium.

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Eating a moderate amount of chocolate each week may help lower risk of stroke in men, according to a new study.

Men in the study who ate the largest amount of chocolate, about one-third of a cup of chocolate chips (63 grams), had a lower risk of stroke compared to those who did not consume any chocolate.

“While other studies have looked at how chocolate may help cardiovascular health, this is the first of its kind study to find that chocolate, may be beneficial for reducing stroke in men,” said study author Susanna C. Larsson, PhD, with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

For the study, 37,103 Swedish men ages 49 to 75 were given a food questionnaire that assessed how often they consumed various foods and drinks and were asked how often they had chocolate. Researchers then identified stroke cases through a hospital discharge registry. Over 10 years, there were 1,995 cases of first stroke.

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We all love chocolate but many of us try to avoid it in the fear of gaining weight.

Now, scientists have found a way to replace up to 50 per cent of fat content in chocolate with fruit juice.

University of Warwick chemists have taken out much of the cocoa butter and milk fats that go into chocolate bars, substituting them with tiny droplets of juice measuring under 30 microns in diameter.

They infused orange and cranberry juice into milk, dark and white chocolate using what is known as a Pickering emulsion.

Significantly, the clever chemistry does not take away the chocolatey ‘mouth-feel’ given by the fatty ingredients.

This is because the new technique maintains the prized Polymorph V content, the substance in the crystal structure of the fat which gives chocolate its glossy appearance, firm and snappy texture but which also allows it to melt smoothly in the mouth.

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Cocoa powder and dark chocolate can help improve blood circulation, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The Swiss group, Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest maker of chocolate products, which supplies food companies such as Nestle and Hershey with cocoa and chocolate products, said on Tuesday that it had provided evidence to EFSA that eating 10g of dark chocolate or its equivalent in cocoa that were high in flavanols helped blood flow.

If the European Commission signs off on the EFSA ruling, the company and its customers would have the right to use the health claim on packaging for products such as chocolate drinks, cereal bars and biscuits, the company said.

“As the first company receiving such a health claim, we see new market potential both for us and for our customers,” Chief Executive Juergen Steinemann said in a statement.

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Experts from across the world recently reported about the emerging health benefits and other aspects of chocolate – the food that has delighted people for almost 2,000 years.

`Chocolate is one of the foods with the greatest appeal to the general population,` said Sunil Kochhar, Ph.D., one of the symposium participants at at the 243rd National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Try this simple, homemade chocolate recipe

`The luscious aroma, taste and textures of chocolate have delighted the senses of people in many parts of the world for centuries and make it a well-known comfort food.`

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