Take this with a grain of salt, but according to a recent study, people who eat chocolate regularly are thinner than those who don't. Now, if you follow nutrition news closely, you'll note that opinions on what's healthy and what's going to give you cancer tend to change from week to week. But hey, this study is encouraging increased chocolate consumption, and that's something many of us can get behind.

Here's the idea: even though chocolate is full of calories, it's composed of certain ingredients that "may favour weight loss rather than weight synthesis." The result is a lower BMI (body mass index) on average for people who consume chocolate regularly. The coolest part is that there seems to be no correlation between weight loss and the amount of chocolate consumed — it's only how often you eat it.

Lead author Dr Beatrice Golomb, from the University of California at San Diego, said: "Our findings appear to add to a body of information suggesting that the composition of calories, not just the number of them, matters for determining their ultimate impact on weight."

So what's the catch? Well, the BMI is a pretty questionable system for measuring one's health — some have dismissed it as total bullshit. Perhaps more to the point, the good effects of chocolate are still sort of a mystery. What we do know is that it's full of fat and sugar, which means moderation is key. Where's the fun in that?

[Image via Flickr/johnloo]