I wish chocolate was a health food, but honestly, it isn't really. However, if you stick to the dark cocoa rich varieties it has a few little surprises.
In the 16th Century the Aztec Emperor Montezuma called chocolate "a divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food." I am going take his word on the bit about walking a whole day without food!
We all know that chocolate is high in fat, containing the saturated fatty acids palmic and stearic acid as well as the monounsaturated oleic acid. Oleic acid (less than 5% in chocolate) has a mild cholesterol reducing effect and stearic acid is largely cholesterol neutral. Cocoa is itself rich in minerals, containing magnesium, copper, potassium and manganese. In fact, chocolate contributes a significant amount of copper in the average American's diet - why is this not surprising? You will also find some vitamin C and D along with beneficial phytochemicals, such as the methyl xanthenes, theobromine and caffeine. However, cocoa also has significant levels of antioxidant flavonoids, these polyphenols are increasingly believed to be beneficial in preventing chronic diseases. In fact before 1950 the flavonoids were listed as essential nutrients (in the US), and modern research is beginning to show their potential benefits.
Which is all great news with Easter on the horizon and chocolate eggs in the shops, but milk chocolate and most commercial chocolate products have masses of added sugar, and much much less of the cocoa where the goodies are found, so no excuse for a binge. What it does show us is that even unlikely foods such as chocolate are not intrinsically unhealthy, and that if we stick to the unprocessed variety, in this case cocoa, there are some potential benefits as well.