The healthiest chocolate? You might be surprised.

What could be better than chocolate for Valentine's Day? In addition to stimulating the release of neurochemicals that make us feel more romantic, chocolate helps keep your heart healthy. Chocolate contains flavonoids that increase the elasticity of your blood vessels, help keep blood clots from forming, and improve cholesterol profiles.  But contrary to popular wisdom, dark chocolate is not necessarily better for you.

It's widely believed that the darker the chocolate is, the more flavonoids it contains. But this is not entirely true. In general, the darker the chocolate, the more cocoa it contains. But much of the flavonoid content may be destroyed in processing, so you can't judge a chocolate bar entirely by its color or even its cocoa percentage.

If you're going to treat your valentine to a gift of chocolate today, look for CocoaVia products, made by the manufacturers of Dove chocolates.  They're processed using a new method that leaves more of the valuable flavonoids intact.  Acticoa, a high-flavonoid chocolate from the makers of Callebaut, should be commercially available in the near future.

One last tip: When you combine cocoa with milk (as in milk chocolate or hot cocoa), a protein in the milk binds to the flavonoids in the chocolate and makes them less absorbable. If you enjoy hot cocoa, consider using soy milk instead of cow's milk.