Is dark chocolate good for you? Depends on...

According to researchers at the University Hospital of Cologne in Germany, foods that are rich in cocoa, such as dark chocolate, appear to reduce blood pressure.

With the proviso that you do not increase caloric intake, the polyphenol-rich cocoa that is found in dark chocolate "may be considered part of a blood pressure lowering diet," said Dr. Dirk Taubertlead author and pharmacologist.

Of course eating chocolate and not increasing calories or replacing healthy foods is not the easiest thing to do; a 100-gram serving of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar has 531 calories.

One other counter-intuitive condition: Don't eat the chocolate with milk. Milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from the chocolate and therefore reduce or eliminate the benefits.

(One other proviso, brush your teeth.)