ADVENT calendars have started and if you’re one of those people that have got a chocolate one, you may not have to feel too guilty when eating the little treat hidden behind each door!

Despite chocolate having a bad press and being linked to a number of health issues including weight gain, there are also a number of health benefits. Chocolate is made from tropical Theobroma cacao tree seeds and its earliest use dates back to the Olmec civilization in Mesoamerica.

After the European discovery of the Americas, chocolate became very popular in the wider world, and its demand exploded.

Over the years, chocolate has received a lot of bad press because of its fat content; its consumption has been associated with acne, obesity, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and diabetes.

However, according to recent research published on chocolate's health effects in the Netherlands Journal of Medicine, it's not all bad news.

The report says "the recent discovery of biologically active phenolic compounds in cocoa has changed this perception and stimulated research on its effects in aging, oxidative stress, blood pressure regulation, and atherosclerosis."

Most people will point out that chocolate is loaded with fat, sugar, and caffeine. It’s true that cocoa butter, the main source of fat (besides milk) in chocolate, is composed of both saturated and unsaturated fats, but most of this, about 75pc, is in the form of oleic and stearic acids.

Diets rich in these acids have been shown to lower cholesterol levels. While 25pc of the fat in chocolate is “the bad kind,” the amount of good fat in chocolate seems to counteract the bad fat.

And, as with all chocolates, the darker they are the less room there is for things like cocoa butter, and the more room for that healthy antioxidant-packed cocoa. A strong dark chocolate bar might have 10 to 15 grams of sugar, which is still less than the 22 grams in your glass of orange juice and the 29 grams in your cup of yogurt, all of which are considered “good” for you. Keep your eye on the labels, too. Some of the specialty chocolate manufacturers are choosing healthier alternatives to refined white sugar, such as evaporated cane juice and molasses. Remember the higher the cocoa content, the less room there is for sugar, lecithin, vanilla, milk, and other stuff that makes chocolate less of a vegetable and more of a sweet. If you think that dark chocolate is bitter and doesn’t taste nice and you’re not a fan of dark chocolate, you’ve probably never had the good stuff. I love Green and Black’s 80pc bar, it’s a high quality bar and tastes great.