Your preference for, or indifference to, chocolate may be linked to a chemical signature programmed into your metabolic system, according to Swiss and British scientists.The finding may help to design healthier diets that are customized to your individual needs, based on your nutritional type, or metabotype.In the study, 11 volunteers who were “chocolate desiring” and 11 who were “chocolate indifferent” ate chocolate or a placebo over a five-day period. When researchers analyzed the volunteers’ urine and blood samples, they found that the “chocolate lovers” had low levels of LDL cholesterol and elevated levels of the beneficial protein albumin. They also had different activity in their gut microbes than the “chocolate indifferent” group.The profile existed whether the chocolate was eaten or not.The researchers suggest that food preferences such as chocolate might be imprinted into your metabolic system so that your body becomes “attuned to a particular diet.”The findings build off of the prior knowledge that metabolic status and food preferences vary from person to person and culture to culture. A test that could reliably determine your nutritional type, which could be performed as part of a blood or urine test, could be available in five years.