Sinful or sweet?

Chocolate won’t exactly help you lose weight. But researchers are finding good reasons to call dark chocolate a superfood.

• MAY IMPROVE SKIN Researchers at Germany’s Heinrich Heine University exposed chocolate eaters to ultraviolet light and found that after six weeks, they had 15 percent less skin reddening than those who didn’t eat it.

• CHECKS CANCER Georgetown University researchers found that when breast cancer cells were treated with chocolate flavanols, the cells stopped dividing. The findings could also apply to other cancers.

• RELIEVES FATIGUE Chronic fatigue syndrome patients who ate 1.6 ounces (45 grams) of dark chocolate daily for eight weeks were less tired than when fed placebos. Researchers think it boosts the neurotransmitters regulating sleep and mood.