Forget snow, eat chocolate

Chocolate lovers must be thrilled.

What they thought was an addiction to a sweet treat may actually be some kind of health food. At least that's what chocolate makers are saying.

Mars Inc. plans to launch a nationwide line of dark chocolate products next month that the company claims has health benefits.

That will please my mother-in-law who finds it hard to resist the joys of chocolate candy.

I'm not sure what happened to Joni. My wife didn't inherit her mother's love of chocolate.

But I like chocolate. So do our kids. So naturally we're excited that a chocolate manufacturer can find a way to make candy healthy for us.

The new candy, we're told, is high in a type of antioxidant found in cocoa beans. It's thought to have a blood-thinning effect similar to aspirin and may even lower blood pressure.

The snacks also are enriched in vitamins and injected with a cholesterol-lowering, soy-based ingredient.

Some health experts say research hasn't shown any health benefits from chocolate.

Personally, the real health benefit may simply be that we no longer have to fret over indulging our sweet tooth. A little less worry certainly has to be good for our health.

Of course, Becca and Bailey -- like children everywhere -- don't view candy as any sort of health risk.

Ten-year-old Bailey, in particular, views it as a constitutional right, along with such health food as pizza and bread sticks.

My thought is to eat what you want and then go exercise like crazy to make up for it.

Of course, students in the Houston, Texas, school district might find it impossible to eat what they want in the school cafeteria. The district has implemented a prepaid lunch program which allows parents to dictate and track what their children can eat.

Students aren't allowed to buy restricted items whether because of food allergies or because of other parental restrictions.

As for exercise, Bailey found time over the weekend to play in the snow with one of her friends in the neighborhood.

Bailey loves snow. She's thrilled when she can catch a few snowflakes on her tongue.

I prefer to watch winter weather on TV from the warm comfort of my home. You don't burn off the calories that way but you won't risk frostbite.

Snow looks good on Christmas cards, beer commercials and the winter Olympics. Otherwise, I can do without it.

But not Bailey. Bundled up like an Eskimo, she played in the white stuff. So did our dog, Cassie, who even managed to retrieve our half-buried newspaper from the driveway on Saturday with a little encouragement from Bailey.

Cassie paraded back into the house with the newspaper in her mouth, her black nose covered in snow.

Like an Olympic skier, Cassie wasn't bothered in the least.

Of course, snow always look better when it's accompanied by Olympic skiers in Spiderman-like outfits and colorful helmets. Without such attire, most people just look pitiful standing on a snowbank in the equivalent of nature's dandruff.

Even so, I'm not going to fixate on the snow. I have better things to do, like eat a piece of chocolate.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.