Can you sneak dark chocolate into your meal plan without having it wreak havoc on your nutritional goals? Good news: Yes, you can! Studies have shown that chocolate may help do numerous healthy things for you, including lower blood pressure, improve mood, boost skin health, and possibly help prevent heart disease. Additionally, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, chocolate may even help some people lose weight. A survey involving 1,000 subjects found that adults who consumed chocolate more frequently had lower body mass index (BMI) than those who consumed chocolate less often.

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That means you should load your shopping cart up with Hershey’s bars, right? Not exactly. How much you consume and what type of chocolate you consume has to be relative to your fitness goals. You’ll want a chocolate that’s at least 70 percent cocoa, according to a 2013 study published in the  European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Science

Why does the percentage matter? The higher the percentage of cocoa, the less sugar (and presumably saturated fat) that gets added to the product and the higher the concentration of cocoa (an antioxidant).

Hey, what’s so bad about milk chocolate, anyway? Sadly, it just doesn’t hold up to the health benefits of dark chocolate. It usually contains less cocoa and is routinely diluted with more sugar, cream, and additives.

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So, when should you consume your dark chocolate treat? Pre-workout is a good slot to fit it in due to its nitric oxide boosting compounds. However, another exceptional pre-workout options is P4’s Pre Game Formula workout supplement. It contains caffeine, creatine, and beta-alanine to produce a hardcore energy rush that also happens to be NSF Certified for Sport.