"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!"

Lucy Van Pelt in Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz

"Look, there's no metaphysics on earth like chocolates."

Fernando Pessoa

"There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles."

Anonymous

"Chocolate doesn't make the world go round, but it certainly makes the ride worth while."

Unknown

"I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process.... It may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?"

Unknown

"Simply put... everyone has a price, mine is chocolate!"

Unknown

• Theobroma is the Greek word for "food of the gods."

• The Aztecs used cacao beans to make a hot, frothy and bitter beverage called chocolatl. This concoction was sacred and was associated with fertility and wisdom.

• The bitter drink was not mixed with milk, cocoa powder and cocoa butter to for what we now know as chocolate until 1876.

   The Good News About Chocolate

Who hasn't been heartened — literally — with the news from scientists that chocolate is more than just a treat?

New studies show that chocolate and its key ingredient, cocoa, have some major health benefits. In its purest form, chocolate can lower blood pressure, help muscles recover from exercise, improve skin, provide antioxidants and even give us a thrill that rivals a passionate kiss.

However, Health magazine senior food and nutrition editor Frances Largeman-Roth warns that this isn't license to binge.

On "The Saturday Early Show," Largeman-Roth points out that the average bar of dark chocolate — the kind that has the most health benefits — has around 400 calories … "and if the bar has any nuts or caramel in it, it'll cost you more" calorie-wise, she adds.

Her advice: "The best thing to do is savor a small piece of really good chocolate."

If you're able to restrict yourself to a small daily dose, you'll experience some heart-healthy benefits.

"Cocoa improves blood flow, makes blood platelets less sticky — which helps prevent clotting — and also has a positive effect on bad cholesterol. This is due to the antioxidant effect of cocoa, which helps reduce inflammation, which we now understand to be the root of many diseases," she tells CBS News.

Another recent eye-opening study, this one by German researchers, showed that women who drank a half-cup of enriched cocoa every day for three months developed skin that was smoother and had more moisture. Furthermore, the women's skin was less scaly and red after it was exposed to ultraviolet light.

"It is surprising, especially after all those stories about chocolate making you break out," says Largeman-Roth. "It turns out that the flavonoids in chocolate help protect the skin and increase blood flow, which makes it look more refreshed and smooth."

Most recently, British researchers reporting finding that people get more of a buzz from eating chocolate than from a passionate kiss.

"The researchers put electrodes on young couples in their 20s and tested their heart rate and brain activity while eating dark chocolate and then while kissing their sweeties," says Largeman-Roth.

"Surprisingly, heart rate and brain activity both increased far more with the chocolate than with the kissing. And actually, all areas of the brain were stimulated when the chocolate melted on their tongues. Kissing did increase the heart rate, but not for as long."

One word of caution: white chocolate, though delicious, doesn't pack any kind of healthy punch because it doesn't have any cocoa solids, the ingredient that makes dark chocolate so magical.

And some studies were based on having participants eating three or more ounces a day, a heavy caloric load. "But the good news," says Largeman-Roth, "is that researchers say you don't need to eat that much to have an effect — even a bit of chocolate a day can do some good."

Courtesy of CBS News 

   Real Chocolate Facts

• Just Looking At Chocolates Is Relaxing!

• Gazing at the rich brown color of chocolate stimulates the pituitary gland, triggering natrually tranquilizing hormones.  

• Cocoa acts
  like low-dose aspirin, U.S. researchers report

• Compounds called flavonoids in the delectable treat help fight heart disease, a new study shows. Its impact on your waistline appears unchanged.  

   Women and Chocolate    

• Women's bodies scream for chocolate when premenstrual food cravings surface. Researchers argue that this craving is because chocolate contains high levels of magnesium. For you see that women's bodies experience magnesium deficiency prior to menstruation.

• Chocolate contains many essential vitamins and minerals such as: B-6, folic acid, niacin, iron, and vitamin C. Others may be included depending on the ingredients used, these are these vitamins and minerals are all included in cocoa and milk.

• Phenolics, which are found in small amounts in chocolate, are found to help lower the risks of heart disease.

• In a study at Harvard University followed 7,841 male graduates and found a correlation between eating a moderate amount of chocolate and longevity. Those who ate one to three chocolate candy bars a month had a 36% lower risk of death than those who abstained. This can mean many things, but if nothing else chocolate is a good luck charm.