Chocoholics have an excuse to eat it for breakfast!

: Chocolate bars Wikipedia

The Daily Telegraph recently had an article to gladden any chocolate-lover’s heart.

Chocolate has long been held to be a mood-lifter.

It boosts levels of serotonin, the brain’s antidepressant, as well as endorphins, the feel-good chemicals released after exercise.

It’s also a known source of theobromine, a stimulant that has a lasting relaxing effect.

Now comes evidence to say that chocolate is less fattening when eaten at the start of the day – particularly appropriate when we want something to cheer us up at the start of a dark, depressing morning. According to endocrinologists in Venezuela, women who ate a 600-calorie breakfast, which included a piece of chocolate, lost more weight than those on a low-carb diet.

My cynical mind remembers that Venezuela is a major exporter – but what the heck. Dr Daniela Jakubowicz attributed the success to kick-starting the body’s metabolism at the time of day when it was most receptive to food. So no longer will I studiously avoid pain au chocolat when it comes round on hotel breakfast tables! But make sure it is dark, 7O% chocolate – not white or milk chocolate, and certainly not any that is less than 6O% cocoa solids.