--- ---  # Researchers Are Going to Dose 18,000 Volunteers With Little Chocolate Pills  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Mar 17, 2014 9:27 AM UTC  Chocolate bars heap Chocolate bars heapGetty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Mar 17, 2014 9:27 AM UTC Researchers will [feed](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/study-test-chocolate-pills-heart-health) intense concentrations of chocolate to thousands of volunteers to see if it improves their heart health. No, this isn’t a chocoholic’s fever dream, this is a three year study just [launched](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/study-test-chocolate-pills-heart-health) by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and chocolate-maker Mars Inc. [According](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/study-test-chocolate-pills-heart-health) to AP, the study expands on previous research of cocoa flavanols, the essential nutrients in dark chocolate, which have been shown to lower the risk of strokes and heart attacks. Lest anyone think about self-medicating in the name of science, researchers caution that the pills also strip out sugar and fat. They also contain concentrations of chocolate nutrients that no one could get from regular candy bars without bursting. \[[AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/study-test-chocolate-pills-heart-health)\] Chocolate Pills to be Tested on 18,000 Volunteers ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/26857/chocolate-pills-to-test-heart-benefits/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/26857/chocolate-pills-to-test-heart-benefits/"},"headline":"Researchers Are Going to Dose 18,000 Volunteers With Little Chocolate Pills","datePublished":"2014-03-17T09:27:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:47:52.200Z","description":"Rest of the world dies of envy","url":"https://time.com/26857/chocolate-pills-to-test-heart-benefits/","keywords":["Nutrition","chocolate","study","Research","Stroke","health","heart attack","heart"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6250677863080a72/698682b313c79fb99b190ba7/candy-bars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6250677863080a72/698682b313c79fb99b190ba7/candy-bars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chocolate bars heap","caption":"Chocolate bars heap","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/26857/chocolate-pills-to-test-heart-benefits/","name":"Researchers Are Going to Dose 18,000 Volunteers With Little Chocolate Pills"}}]}] ```