Chocolate: The New Health Food Now you can stop feeling guilty about that bite of chocolate you had for dessert. Chocolate has been found to be a cause of weight gain. But scientists have discovered that it does have some health benefits. However, don’t reach for that chocolate cake just yet. Researchers found that only people who ate about one ounce of dark chocolate per day received the health benefit. Dark chocolate is full of flavonoids, which help prevent diseases. Flavonoids have been found to decrease cholesterol and reduce blood clots that can cause strokes. Flavonoids also boost a natural chemical in your brain called serotonin. Low serotonin can cause depression. That’s probably why eating chocolate boosts mood and feelings of well-being. Chocolate: A Bittersweet Pill Many new studies have found that chocolate has some unexpected health benefits. But before we start calling chocolate the new wonder food, let’s look at the facts. These so-called health benefits don’t beat the risks of eating too much chocolate. Chocolate is rich in fats and sugar. Eating too much of it can lead to weight gain. Other studies have shown that eating chocolate can trigger painful headaches in some people. In addition, chocolate can increase the risk of developing painful kidney stones in some people. Plus, only dark chocolate has health benefits, not milk chocolate. White chocolate also has no health benefits. 3 Select the correct answers. Which two points do the two passages agree on? Chocolate can boost feelings of well-being and lower depression. Dark chocolate has some health benefits. Eating chocolate in large amounts is good for health. Chocolate can cause weight gain. Eating chocolate can cause headaches in some people.