By Xing Bao

　　MILLIONS of people are obsessed with chocolate for its softness and sweetness, but few know that chocolate is also rich in one trace element - copper.

　　Cocoa beans contain copper and most of the mineral remains preserved after the beans are processedsintoscocoa or chocolate. Copper is one of the basic minerals necessary for nutrition and the normal development of the human body's faculties.

　　It helps sustain the normal operation of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, facilitates the growth of the skeleton and maintains red blood cells. It also protects the red cells because the element has an anti-oxidization function.

　　Human body must have copper for its energy metabolism. Lack of copper will retard children's growth and lead to various diseases in adults, such as anaemia, heart disorders, circulatory system problems and skeletal deformation. Insufficient copper can also result in all kinds of metabolic diseases in the nervous system and the immune system.

　　The only way to get enough copper is through eating as the mineral can not be synthesized by the body itself. Chocolate happens to have really a lot of copper. How lucky it is for us to have to eat such a delicious food for copper's sake!

　　Xing Bao