Next time you've a touch of the runs you could do worse than reach for a bar of dark chocolate.


Scientists in Germany and the US have found the flavonoids in cocoa can inhibit a protein in the intestines that governs fluid retention. Eating chocolate can offer mild relief from diarrhea.

This recent study has confirmed that our ancestors were, as usual, way ahead of us: cocoa was a South American and European folk remedy for diarrhea 400 years ago.