Eating chocolate could stop you getting sunburn?

First it had health benefits, now it's got skin benefits too! How can we avoid temptation now?

There we were, all proud of ourselves for avoiding chocolate for the last few days (that bag of Galaxy bubbles doesn't count) and then we hear this latest news...that chocolate not only improves your mood, it also acts like a mild sunscreen. It's basically a health food then, right?

German researchers set up a trial where 24 women had to add cocoa to their breakfasts every day for three months. Half of the women drank hot cocoa that was rich in flavonoids, a natural plant-based antioxidant, and the other half drank cocoa that had little or no flavonoid. The volunteers skin was tested against UV light before and after the trial.

The results were striking. The skin of the women who had drunk the antioxidant-rich cocoa did not redden as much as the women who had drunk the alternative. They also reported smoother and moister skin than the others. 

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