Now here’s a clinical trial that I could really get excited about:

Researchers at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, want to test whether a natural compound in cocoa could cut the risk of heart disease of women who have diabetes.

How sweet is that?

A Belgian confectionist has created the special chocolate bar containing high levels of flavonoids — a plant compound that has been shown to reduce heart risk factors — to be used in the experiment. Soy, another good source of flavonoids, has been added to the special chocolate bar.

Participants must be postmenopausal women under the age of 70. They will have their risk of heart disease tested five times during the year to see whether change occurs.

If adding flavonoids to women’s diets to protect from heart disease and type 2 diabetes, so be it.