If you are going to eat a chocolate treat, dark chocolate is usually your best bet.

It has the most antioxidant-like flavonoids, which may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. The higher the percentage of cocoa solids, typically the more flavonoids the chocolate has.

Don't eat lots of chocolate in the hope of better health. A serving size is usually just a few squares or a small bar.

Chocolate has a long reputation as an aphrodisiac. Aztec ruler Montezuma supposedly drank a chocolate-y concoction before visiting the women in his harem.

It’s also believed that nuns were forbidden from eating it at one time because it was thought to be so romantically potent. French doctors supposedly used it to treat broken hearts.

Chocolate does contain caffeine, but if you're looking for a caffeine boost, chocolate isn't your best bet.

One mug of instant coffee has about 100mg caffeine. One 50g bar of milk chocolate only has up to around 25mg.

Plain chocolate contains about twice as much caffeine as milk chocolate.

We're the biggest choc-o-holics in Europe, chomping our way through an average of 10kg a year. Most of that is milk chocolate with dark chocolate sales accounting for just 3% of the market, but that's predicted to grow,

Some people think dark chocolate has fewer calories than milk chocolate, but both have about the same - around 550 calories in every 100g.

Easter eggs have a cracking lead and chocolate bunnies hop over rival occasions. According to analysts Mintel, we spend around £264 million on chocolate at Easter compared to £163 million at Christmas. Valentines's Day and Mother's day trail behind at around £20 million and £22 million each.

Chocolate has hundreds of chemicals, and some work on the brain. These include phenylethylamine (PEA) which some researchers think helps to create a happy feeling similar to being in love. However, other studies say little of the chemical actually reaches the brain. There's more PEA in cheese than chocolate, but chocolate is still more popular on Valentine's day.

There are many ways to rank top chocolate bars – from sales to taste. As a brand, Cadbury Dairy Milk ranks highest. It also topped a poll of more than 14,000 readers of the consumer website MoneySavingExpert.com with 15.5% of the vote. Galaxy and Snickers were second and third.

We can be fickle when it comes to chocolate. Research by Mintel found that fewer than a third of UK chocolate buyers would stick to their favourite bar if the price went up.

Poor Easter Bunny. At least he can't hear us when we're eating him. An overwhelming number of Americans (76%) told researchers they nibble off the ears of a chocolate bunny first before devouring the rest of him.

The Maya and Aztec believed chocolate had all kinds of healing powers. They used it to treat everything from fevers and seizures to skin infections.

When chocolate made its way to Europe in the 1600s, some doctors used it to try to treat illnesses like ulcers and ringworm. Meanwhile, other doctors were worried it caused illnesses.

Don't blame chocolate for your acne. Although diet, especially greasy foods and chocolate, are often blamed for breakouts, there's little proof that there's any connection.

The British Dietetic Association says chocolate does contain migraine-causing tyramine and phenylethylamine. However there's no proof chocolate on its own can cause migraine but perhaps as one of a number of triggers.

You think you love chocolate? The Aztecs valued it so much they made it into drinks and used it for important religious and royal events.

But they couldn't grow cacao (the beans used to make chocolate) in their very dry climate. Instead, they traded with other cultures for the beans or made the people they conquered pay taxes with them.

Chocolate might make almost any food more interesting, but in Mexico, chocolate is put in a traditional dish called molé. It’s often served as part of Day of the Dead ceremonies, where families celebrate and honour family members who have died.

One Japanese study found the cocoa bean husk that is thrown away in chocolate production may help fight bacteria in the mouth and tooth decay. As we don’t eat the cocoa husk, the good news is a piece of chocolate does less damage to your teeth than dried fruit. That's because you eat it and it dissolves. Dried fruit leaves natural sugars behind that stick to your teeth.

Chewing sugar-free gum after eating may help prevent tooth decay.

White chocolate has at least 20% cocoa butter, but it doesn't include cocoa solids which give chocolate its dark, rich colour.

Most cooking chocolate is higher in cocoa butter so it melts easier.