Is it true a quantity of chocolate can remove sun damage,premature aging and cancer.

Dark chocolate has already been shown to be heart-smart in numerous studies, and now the new research extends these health benefits to our skin.

Eating about an ounce of dark chocolate a day -- the equivalent of about 4 or 5 Hershey Kisses -- can protect your skin from the damaging ultraviolet light known to cause sun burns, premature aging and skin cancer, according to a new study in the September issue of the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.

All chocolate is not created equally. The chocolate has to be dark and contain at least 70 percent cocoa to achieve any health benefits. When cocoa beans are taken from the tree they are teeming with flavonoids, natural compounds with antioxidant properties. Antioxidants protect the body from the damaging free radicals that are linked to a host of diseases associated with aging.

The more chocolate is processed, the fewer flavonoids (and health benefits) it retains. When it comes to healthy chocolate, the darker the chocolate, the better it is for you. Dark chocolate contains almost four times as many flavonoids as milk chocolate, and white chocolate contains none.

In the new study, 15 people consumed about an ounce of flavonoid-rich chocolate every day for 12 weeks, and 15 others ate the same amount of chocolate, but theirs contained fewer flavonoids.

The researchers determined the participant's minimal erythematic dose when the study began and then 12 weeks later. This "time-to-burn" test assesses the minimum amount of time needed to produce redness 24 hours after exposure to ultraviolet light. Those individuals who got the flavonoid-rich chocolate more than doubled their time-to-burn after 12 weeks, meaning they were more protected from the sun as a result. By contrast, those individuals who consumed the chocolate with fewer flavonoids showed no change in their minimal erythematic dose at the study's end.

But don't scrap your sun block for a serving of chocolate. The best way to protect yourself from the sun's ultraviolet light is to use sunscreen with an sun protection factor of at least 30, and reapply it frequently during the winter, spring, summer and fall. It's also important to wear protective clothing such as hats and long-sleeved shirts, and to avoid sun exposure from 10 am to 4 pm when the sun is strongest.

If you like chocolate (and really, who doesn't?) aim for a small, daily serving of dark chocolate as part of your healthy skin regimen. Just don't overdo it, as chocolate can be high in calories and sugar. Enjoy!