Cut stress with chocolate

The news just keeps getting better for chocolate lovers. And the latest is that a bar a day keeps the stress away.

A study by Dutch and Swiss scientists found that a small bar of chocolate (dark, obviously) can cut levels of stress hormones and rebalance other chemicals in the body when we're feeling anxious.Volunteers, both men and women, ate 20g of dark chocolate morning and evening while scientists monitored their stress hormone levels.

Those under the most pressure found their high hormone levels dropping after just two weeks of choco-therapy.

Researcher Sunil Kochhar (who suspiciously works for Nestle) said the study, reported in the Journal of Proteome Research, "provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40g is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy volunteers".

However, note the use of the word "healthy" there, folks. It might reduce stress and even help to cut the risk of heart disease, as another recent study revealed, but there's still that healthy diet and lifestyle to consider.