A candy bar a day could keep the doctor away. A recent Penn State study found positive health effects in chocolate and tea.

Both been found to contain very similar compounds, called flavinoids, which can have health benefits, said Penny Kris-Etherton, professor of nutrition, who has done research on the effects of the flavinoids.

The flavinoids act as antioxidants in the body, keeping certain compounds, such as bad cholesterol, from breaking down in your body, Kris-Etherton said.

"Your body has oxidant reactions that go on normally, and things break down and produce byproducts," she said.

Kris-Etherton explained these byproducts could be harmful to the body, and flavinoids, such as the ones found in tea and chocolate, can keep these byproducts from being created.

Carl Keen, professor of nutrition at the University of California, Davis, also was involved in the study on chocolate. He explained that one of the positive benefits of these flavinoids is that they reduce the tendency for blood clots.

There have been more than six studies conducted, one of which was done on platelets that cause blood clots, Keen said.

"Patients were given a cocoa beverage with flavinoids as compared to water, and over a six-hour period, there was a reduction in platelet activity," Keen said, explaining that means a reduction in blood clotting.

Kris-Etherton warned that chocolate does not have all positive effects.

"Chocolate is a double-edged sword," Kris-Etherton said. "Don't get too much of a good thing."

Most chocolate products have a lot of sugar, and chocolate found in food such as candy bars has calories that are of no nutritional value, Kris-Etherton said.

"It has some good things and some bad things to watch out for," she said. "I would like to see us use it in a way other than confectionery."

She said many recipes are now using cocoa in new ways, other than as candy or baked goods.

The flavinoids found in chocolate and tea also prevent low-density lipoproteins, which is called "bad cholesterol," from oxidizing in your body, Kris-Etherton said.

"Low-density lipoproteins are taken to the arteries, and especially if oxidized, they initiate heart disease," Kris-Etherton explained.

The bad cholesterol causes fat accumulation in the arteries, which causes them to narrow.