Sorry. While most recent research on has suggested that chocolate has health benefits, the TNF stimulating effects of the cocoa flavonoids does not look like it would be healthy for people infected with avian flu virus. PMID:12885154,PMID:10917928 The flavonoid compounds in chocolate can be compared to beads and short chains of beads; although the individual beads had a slight cooling effect on the immune system, the more numerous chains of 5 to 10 flavonoid groups dramatically increased the production of inflammatory cytokines. While the researchers suggested that this may be beneficial for stimulating circulation or fighting bacterial infection, I believe it may not be good for someone in a severe cytokine storm.

(Side note to migraine researchers: If migraine headaches are associated with elevated cytokines like IL-1, IL-6 and TNF, and cocoa flavonoids can dramatically elevate these cytokines, maybe there is a basis for claims that chocolate can trigger migraines. PMID: 15985111)

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