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Dark chocolate is higher in fat than milk chocolate, but much of it is a combination of the heart-healthy monounsaturated kind and stearic acid, a type of saturated fat that doesn’t raise cholesterol.

But, stearic acid does not increase LDL-cholesterol levels like the other saturated fats.

Saturated fats in animal products tend to be comprised of palmitic and stearic acid.

To be fair, some saturated fats – such as stearic acid and lauric acid – have recently been shown to have neutral effects on blood cholesterol levels.

The team had begun by cloning the native genes that allow E. coli to soak up stearic acid in the gut.