Dear Chocolate:

I cherish your rich flavor. And I long to trust you with my heart. Tell me you're not too good to be true.

I have come to appreciate your humble beginnings as mere Theobromo cacao beans. You have been roasted and ground to produce cocoa butter and cocoa powder. And from these you have flourished into a variety of chocolate products that give pleasure to those of us who indulge in your offerings.

Beneath your cocoa-flavored exterior, you possess flavonoids - tough antioxidants that absorb dangerous radical oxygen molecules and protect this heart of mine. Scientists have even measured your antioxidant strength in terms of "Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity" (ORAC). Studies have found that one standard serving (1.3 ounces) of dark (60 percent cocoa) chocolate, contains the antioxidant capacity of 2 cups of tea, 2 glasses of red wine or 1-1/3 cup of blueberries. My hero!

Alas, no one gets the whole ... dessert. Your inviting taste reveals your truly high fat character, especially the harmful saturated fat that my heart dreads. But wait! Unlike other more harmful saturated fats, stearic acid - the main saturated fat in cocoa butter - has not been found to raise my blood cholesterol levels. Be still my soul!

And yet I know that you are packed with calories that are not always nice to my figure. So I'll try to take you in small doses. Otherwise we can't go on meeting like this.

Why, oh, why do I get such pleasure being with you? Turns out you help boost serotonin and endorphin hormones that improve my mood.

But not everyone finds pleasure in your company. Dark chocolate contains a good dose of tyramine, a chemical that some believe may trigger migraine headaches. And naturally-occurring "oxalates" in chocolate may contribute to the formation of kidney stones.

So, if we are going to have a meaningful and positive relationship, I must set a few boundaries:

1. I will limit my consumption of chocolate to small servings ... no more than one ounce a day (except Valentine's Day).

2. I will be aware that dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa (70 percent or more) contains more than double the healthful substances than my favorite milk chocolate. Sigh ...

3. I will spend more time with natural cocoa powder. It has less fat and fewer calories and more than three times the antioxidant capacity of dark chocolate.

4. I will marvel at the food industry that continues to help us feel less guilty over our love of chocolate. One product called Cocoa Via, combines natural cocoa flavonols with cholesterol-lowering plant sterol extracts. This product is even fortified with calcium, folic acid, vitamins B-6 and B-12, vitamin C, and vitamin E.

Be strong, my heart.

___

(Barbara Quinn is a registered dietitian at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Send mail to BQuinn, 2 Upper Ragsdale Drive, Monterey, CA or email her at bquinn@chomp.org.)