Overview If you consider chocolate solely as a sinful, decadent departure from a healthy meal plan, think again. The right kind of bar -- dark chocolate -- and consuming it in chaste amounts renders an indulgence into a good-for-you food. Aside from the health benefits, chocolate bars get high marks for portability and the possibility of exercising portion control. Health Helper Harvard researchers discovered the positive health benefits of eating chocolate include lower blood pressure, improved cholesterol levels and a possible reduced risk for diabetes. This meta-analysis involved a review of 24 studies and 1,106 participants. It looked at the conclusions other researchers had made over the past 10 years about the upside of chocolate. The health benefits come from the component called flavonoids, the highest levels of which are in dark chocolate with the most cocoa solids. Amped Antioxidants The researchers consider dark chocolate a potent antioxidant. Antioxidants attach themselves to cell-damaging free radical molecules in the body and spirit them away through digestion and other processes. Every 100 grams of chocolate contains 13,120 ORACS -- oxygen radical absorbance capacity units -- more than red wine, blueberries, green tea and pomegranate. A diet rich in antioxidants may result in less chance of suffering from heart attacks, stroke, cancer, arthritis, asthma and certain degenerative cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer's. Portion Control Grab a bar to get your healthy chocolate fix and to see what is a sensible portion. One 5-g square contains about 25 calories and 1.5 g. of fat, according to the Positive Healthy Steps.com. So, an entire row would run you roughly 125 calories and 7.5 grams of fat. Eating a single row one square at a time, rather than gobbling a whole bar or chocolate dessert, constitutes moderate consumption. Best Benefit Bars Choose bars with at least 70 percent cocoa solids to get optimum health benefits, as well as the nutrients iron, calcium and potassium, and vitamins A, B-1, C, D and E. Look for chocolate bars that list minimally-processed chocolate -- or cacao -- as a main ingredient. This cacao might list as cacao nibs, which are small pieces of cacao beans. Roasting and processing chocolate with alkali reduces antioxidant concentration.