(Photo: Andrew Eccles)

Until fairly recently, it was maligned as a fattening, pimple-provoking sin food. But now chocolate (the darker the better) is nutrition’s favorite, because it boosts endorphins, elevates mood, and supplies heart-healthy shots of antioxidant flavonoids—making it a particular necessity when work stress, for example, starts to get the better of you. Chocolate also smells almost as good as it tastes, as evidenced by Laura Mercier’s Chocolate Truffle Soufflé Body Crème ($55 at Bergdorf Goodman, 754 Fifth Ave., at 57th St.; 212-753-7300). Not only does the crème smell (and feel) delicious, but it delivers its own vitamin payload (A and E, which fight back against sun and free-radical damage).