(WS) - Researchers are conducting a trial to see if a pill made from cocoa, high in the flavanols found in chocolate and red wine, can improve cardiovascular health.

You've heard that dark chocolate is good for you, but are the health benefits worth the calories? A team at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is looking to sidestep the sugar and fat found in chocolate bars by introducing a cocoa supplement in pill form.

The hospital is starting the Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS), in partnership with the Cancer Research Center and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Researchers are calling for volunteers—18,000 men and women, ages 60 and older and 65 and older, respectively. (The clinical trial is financed by unlikely partners—confectionary producer Mars, Inc., and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Inc.)

The participants will take two cocoa extract capsules and a multivitamin (or a placebo) every day for four years. The goal is to test whether the cocoa intake can reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes in older adults, as well as lessen the risk of cancer.