Eating chocolate cuts risk of heart disease

04 sept 2011-- The researchers compiled a systematic review of seven studies using data from 114,000 patients and found that people who consumed the most chocolate had a 37 per cent lower risk of developing heart disease and a 29 per cent lower risk of suffering a stroke than those who consumed less chocolate.

The studies looked at the consumption of dark chocolate as well as milk chocolate, chocolate drinks and other chocolate confectionaries.

Although the analysis suggests a certain benefit to eating higher quantities of chocolate, the findings still need to be interpreted with caution, in particular because commercially available chocolate is very calorific and eating too much of it could in itself lead to weight gain, which increases various health risks.

Lead author, Dr. Oscar Franco, from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, said: “Chocolate may be beneficial, but it should be eaten in a moderate way, not in large quantities and not in binges,” he said. “If it is consumed in large quantities, any beneficial effect is going to disappear.”

However, they conclude that, given the health benefits of eating chocolate, initiatives to reduce the current fat and sugar content in most chocolate products should be explored.

The World Health Organisation predicts that by 2030, nearly 23.6 million people will die from heart disease. Furthermore, about a fifth of the world’s adult population are thought to have metabolic syndrome, a cluster of factors associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Provided by University of Cambridge

AAN: Chocolate Consumption Linked to Lower Stroke Risk

Higher flavonoid intake from chocolate may lower risk of stroke and stroke-related mortality

12 feb 2010-- Some evidence suggests that higher flavonoid intake from chocolate may be associated with a lower risk of stroke and stroke-related mortality, according to research released Feb. 11 in advance of the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, to be held from April 10 to 17 in Toronto.

Sarah Sahib, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and colleagues reviewed three relevant prospective cohort studies published between 2001 and 2009.

The researchers found that the studies produced mixed results, with one study showing no association between flavonoid intake consisting of 3 percent catechin intake from chocolate with stroke or death (relative risk, 0.92). A second study, however, found that once-weekly chocolate consumption was associated with a reduced risk of incident stroke (relative risk, 0.78), while a third study suggested that weekly chocolate consumption was associated with a reduced risk of stroke mortality (hazard ratio, 0.54).

"Further prospective studies are needed to assess whether the benefit of chocolate-based flavonoid consumption truly lowers stroke risk, or whether the apparent benefit is biased by a healthy user effect," the authors conclude.

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