Professor Tim Spector's 'treat' superfood to blast cholesterol and heart disease

A scientific expert has said there is clear evidence that eating chocolate can be good for you - but it has to be the right sort. Tim Spector who is professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and founder of the Zoe health app said that people can indulge in a sweet treat.

However he said that the key ingredient was cacao - with the UK’s favourite bar only having the EU minimum level in it. Prof Spector said: “I love chocolate, but not all forms are equal. Most of the chocolate eaten in the UK is of low quality and contains huge quantities of sugar, additives and little cocoa.

“Britain’s favourite bar – Cadbury’s Dairy Milk – is around 25 per cent cacao, the EU minimum. Meanwhile, in the United States, a product only has to contain 10 per cent cacao to be legally considered chocolate. These sugary versions with multiple flavourings and additives, as you might suspect, are not great for your health.”

Instead of getting stuck in to Dairy Milk, Prof Spector said people should be going for the bars with hardly any ingredients. He explained: “High-quality dark chocolate with 70 per cent cacao or above and ideally no more than three ingredients – cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar – is actually quite good for you.

“This needn’t be a guilty pleasure at all, and it won’t rot your teeth. If dark chocolate is too bitter for your taste, try to wean yourself off milk chocolate gradually as I did, moving from 25 per cent up to 40, then 50, and so on. Many people use the same approach for reducing sugar in tea, and if you take it slowly, it is easy.”

There are health benefits too - with it helping heart health, blood pressure, inflammation and diabetes. He said: “Eating dark chocolate without additives such as emulsifiers,