CHOC FULL OF GOODNESS; Expert confirms dark treat can help health.

Byline: Gayle Ritchie

DARK and bitter or milky and sweet... there's nothing quite like chocolate to make a bad day better.

Brits are a nation of chocaholics and spend pounds 3.5billion a year on it - more than any other country in Europe.

Luckily there are loads of reasons to enjoy the stuff, especially as this is National Chocolate Week.

Swedish scientists say people eating chocolate after a heart attack may be less likely to have another one.

And the fact that chocolate boosts brain power and lifts depression can only be a positive thing.

So, chocolate really is good for your health...but only if it's dark.

Black Magic fans bombarded makers of the classic dark chocolate with letters pleading for its return. After two years of being off the shelves, Nestle brought the range back this year.

Nutritionist and bestselling diet book author Zoe Harcombe says it's easy to end National ChocolateWeek the same size as you began.

She said: "Stick to dark chocolate, with at least 70 per cent cocoa and ideally, 85 per cent.

"The problem with milk chocolate is that it uses artificial sweeteners and it's a lot more calorific.

"Have a couple of squares of dark chocolate after dinner and you'll feel like you've had dessert, yet you won't be piling on the pounds."

Zoe, who wrote Stop Counting Calories, Start LosingWeight, added: "It's simple. Choose cocoa, not sugar. Dark chocolate has approximately 40 fewer calories per 100g than milk chocolate. Far more important though is the carb content.

"A 100g bar of 85 per cent chocolate has 19g of carb which is about the same as one apple. But 100g bar of milk chocolate has more than 50g.

"As dark chocolate has nutritious, not empty, calories as well as antioxidants and anti-coagulants which make blood flow more freely, you will need far less of it to satisfy you."

But Zoe warns: "Don't graze on it. If you're going to have some dark chocolate, then have it.

"Enjoy as much as you want to eat of it in one sitting, but don't make it last throughout the day. This will cause insulin to be released and insulin is called the fattening hormone.

"We don't want to be drip-releasing the fattening hormone all day, so have your chocolate lunch and you'll only get one release of insulin."

National Chocolate Week runs until Sunday.

OUR LOVE AFFAIR WITH CHOCOLATE THROUGH THE YEARS

CHOCOLATE gives you a healthy heart. Dark chocolate - especially that with more than 70 per cent cocoa - is full of antioxidants that can fight conditions which can lead to heart problems.

It can reduce your cholesterol. Dark chocolate cuts this by up to 10 per cent and reduces the risk of blood clots by up to 75 per cent.

Chocolate boosts brain power. Dark chocolate has been proven to improve your mental abilities.

You needn't pile on the pounds. Scientists say eating dark chocolate makes you feel fuller than milk chocolate.

Chocolate has a real feel-good factor. It's been proven that the serotonin in dark chocolate can lessen depression.

Eat chocolate and live longer. Scientists at Harvard University in the US found that eating dark chocolate three times a month could prolong a person's life by a year.

It's a myth that eating chocolate is addictive and causes spots. It's more likely that hormones or general bad diet are to blame.

Chocolate grows on trees. It all starts with a small tropical tree, the Theobroma cacao, usually called simply, "cacao". Theobroma is Greek for "food of the gods". Cacao is native to Central and South America, but it is grown commercially throughout the tropics. About 70 per cent of the world's cacao is grown in Africa.

Chocolate was enjoyed among the Aztecs as a cold drink made from crushed cocoa beans. The drink was so highly valued that cocoa beans became a form of currency - four beans for a rabbit or 100 for a slave.

The English word 'chocolate' was coined in 1604 but we had to wait until 1647 for our first taste of it, as brewed by a Cretan student at Oxford.

The bar of chocolate was invented in 1847 by Fry's of Bristol. Cadbury's made the first box of chocolates in 1868.

Chocolate is not high in caffeine. A 1oz bar of milk chocolate contains only 5-6mg of caffeine. This is significantly less than coffee, tea and soft drinks.

In general, the shelf life for chocolate is a year.

The largest chocolate bar ever weighed more than 5000 pounds and was made in Italy in 2000.

There is a boutique hotel devoted entirely to chocolate in Bournemouth. The Chocolate Boutique Hotel runs workshops and weekends based on chocolate. It's a chocaholic's dream.

Budding chefs can get their chocolate fix at Cocoa Black chocolate school in Peebles in the Borders. The school offers tuition for all levels of cooks with classes on how to make different types of chocolate. Instruction is provided by Culinary Olympic winning chef Ruth Hinks.

Many movies have been made about chocolate. One of the favourites is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The screenplay was written by the author of the book, Roald Dahl and the latest version, with Johnny Depp, was released in 2005.

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BACK IN BLACK: Chocolate favourite makes Magic return