Do you think you would ever reach the day when someone would tell you a piece of chocolate a day keeps the doctor away and be serious? Well, today is that day. It is good for the heart in ways other than just Valentine's Day or mending a broken one. Chocolate is actually great for you.

The main ingredient in chocolate which makes it so heart healthy is the anti-oxidant flavanoid and it is shown to prevent heart disease. A natural substance, flavanoids are found in cocoa and believed to affect nitric oxide activity in your body. In other words, the less cells that oxidize, the better it is for your health.

Let those people take their vitamins and other antioxidants. With studies showing that cocoa could do the trick, I'll stick with my chocolate bars. Just remember that moderation is the main key. This doesn't give you a free pass to eat as much chocolate as you want. Incorporate it into a balanced and healthy diet.

With more research uncovering evidence of the truth behind these statements, you are going to be hearing more stories about the benefits of eating chocolate. For now, here are six more reasons why you should indulge yourself in cocoa.

A happy, healthy heart - Scientists during a recent study recently finished up studies on cocoa and found it does boost heart health. The study showed the heart benefits from an increased blood flow, less platelet stickiness and clotting, and improved bad cholesterol. These benefits are the result of cocoa's antioxidant chemicals known as flavonoids, which prevent both cell damage and inflammation.

Muscle magic - After a hard workout, drink some chocolate milk. It's been shown to help your body recover more quickly. Athletes who drank chocolate milk between workouts scored better on fatigue and endurance tests than those who had some sports drinks.

Skin care - Nutritional researchers gave a group of women a half-cup of special extra-flavonoid-enriched cocoa once a day, every day. After a three month span, the women's skin was moister and smoother. It also was less scaly and red when exposed to ultraviolet light. Researchers believe the flavonoids, which have been shown to absorb UV light, help protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its overall appearance.

Better blood pressure - If you suffer from high blood pressure, eating chocolate may help. Nutritional doctors recently found that hypertensive people who ate three and a half ounces of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure drop significantly. They also found that bad cholesterol dropped, too. Just a taste a day may do you good. Fans of white chocolate won't like this but people who ate the same amount of white chocolate showed no signs of change since it doesn't contain any cocoa or flavonoids.

Brain gains - Preliminary research suggests eating chocolate boosts your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving skills by increasing blood flow to the brain. In independent studies, chocolate companies found similar gains in related research on healthy young women and elderly people.

Good loving - For centuries chocolate has had the reputation for being the choice of lovers and an aphrodisiac. In a survey of women, those who ate chocolate every day seemed to have more sex drive, better lubrication, and an easier time reaching orgasm. Just one issue with that survey, the women in it were all younger than the ones who didn't. Follow up research is being down to determine if it was age and not chocolate that made the difference.