MONTREAL — Chocolate may sweeten your sex life but an overdose can also swell your waistline, experts said Wednesday on the eve of the Easter weekend.

A panel of health officials also recommended dark chocolate as a less fattening but more bitter alternative to suger-saturated Easter bunnies.

An array of dark chocolate samples were handed out at a news conference summarizing their health benefits -- and desirable side-effects.

McGill professor Dr. Joe Schwarcz noted that cocoa beans contain flavonoids, a compound found to be potentially beneficial in reducing the risk of heart attacks or strokes.

"These flavonoids actually do have blood pressure-lowering effects,'' said Schwarcz.

"The higher the cocoa content, the better. So the chocoholics can come out of the closet.''

He drew chuckles when he mentioned preliminary research linking chocolate to the libido.

Tests conducted in the 1990s by Chicago researcher Alan Hirsch indicated the scent of chocolate caused a slight increase in penile blood flow.

Dr. Hirsch, neurological director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Center Foundation, provided male volunteers with masks scented with various odours and combinations of odours.

The test subjects were then outfitted with unusual monitoring devices.

"He (Hirsch) has taken little blood-pressure cuffs and put them on the penises of volunteers,'' said Schwarcz.

"Of course the idea is to measure how one can increase pressure in that particular part of the anatomy.

"The higher the flavonoid content, the greater the effect.''

And the darker the chocolate, the higher the flavonoid content.

Several people at the news conference were seen stuffing their bags with the samples of bitter dark-chocolate squares featuring a cocoa content of 88 per cent.

But the experts cautioned Easter shoppers to abide by the age-old adage that too much of a good thing can be bad in the long run.

North Americans buy up to 60 per cent of their chocolate during holidays such as Easter, which is the third most popular chocolate-buying period after Halloween and Christmas.

The array of available products can lead to overeating and obesity, said nutritionist Marie-Claude Paquette.

"After holidays such as Christmas and Easter, we have a tendency to eat too much of some foods, including chocolate,'' she told the news conference.

"And with springtime coming, and the nice weather, (when) we may want to put on that bathing suit, we become less than satisfied with our appearance.''

She recommended consumers stay away from weight-loss plans that promise spectacular results, and eat a balanced diet instead.

In short, everything in moderation.

"It's not sexy, but it works,'' she said.