Phil Lempert TODAY Food Editor • Profile • E-mail

It's by far the best of the food shows: New York's annual Chocolate Show. Now in its eighth year, the show starts tonight with a fund-raising gala centered around a sexy, hip fashion show where the best chocolatiers team up with the hottest fashion designers to create wearable chocolate creations.

Then on Thursday morning, and for the next three days, tens of thousands of New Yorkers cram into the Metropolitan Pavilion to taste the best chocolates and discuss the nuances between bites.

Why is chocolate worthy of its own fashion show and taste extravaganza? Do you really need to ask?

There's something undeniably mystical and irresistible about chocolate. The word itself is sensual and romantic. The creamy, silky texture, the deep, dark, elegant color, the exquisitely sweet, rich flavor, the tantalizing aroma — the seductive characteristics of chocolate can arouse the senses and send one's pulse racing to new heights. The experience of a forbidden piece of pure chocolate deliberately melting on the tip of your tongue is sheer ecstasy, one of life's most pleasurable moments. No wonder chocolate is often referred to as decadent and why it was forbidden in strict religious groups. Indulging in the luxurious stuff feels so good it must be bad!

And most important, chocolate is one of the world's oldest and perhaps healthiest foods.

Over 3,000 years ago, Mayans and Aztecs of the Americas cultivated cacao beans from the tree Cacao theobroma, from which chocolate is made. New research shows that the enticing chocolate morsels are potent little packages of health conferring chemicals. Chocolate may prevent free radical damage that can lead to cancer, prevent heart disease, enhance our immune system, and give us a feeling of well-being.

Like some other plant foods, chocolate is chock-full of a wide range of antioxidant compounds called polyphenols, including the procyanidins epicatechin and catechin. Fruit, vegetables, wine, and tea have polyphenolic flavonoids as well but, amazingly, polyphenols are found in much higher abundance in chocolate and cocoa. The amount of polyphenols in milk chocolate is equivalent to that of five servings of fruits and vegetables. The following is the measurement of the polyphenol content in 1.25 ounces of cocoa products:

• Milk chocolate 300 mg
• Dark chocolate 700 mg
• Cocoa powder 1,300 mg

Polyphenols are antioxidants that help the body's cells resist damage from free radicals, which are formed in normal body processes as well as by environmental pollution, poor diet, alcohol and drug use, and smoking. Free radicals can damage cells, thereby causing cancer and accelerated aging of the body systems. Polyphenols in cocoa also minimize the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, a major factor in the promotion of coronary disease such as heart attack and stroke. Reducing the oxidation rate of LDL cholesterol may be just as important as reducing the level of LDL cholesterol. Polyphenols also help inhibit platelet aggregation and activation, meaning they help prevent platelets from clumping together, therefore reducing the risk of arteriosclerosis. Cocoa polyphenols also seem to thin the blood, which slows the rate of coagulation, reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.

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