Vast benefits from chocolate for heart health.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Eating chocolate regularly may lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, according to a newly published study.
The new study appeared in Heart, a well-respected, peer-reviewed journal, according to Forbes, and drew on the experiences of 21,000 adults participating in the EPIC-Norfolk study, which is tracking connections between diet and long-term health.
Researchers from the University of Aberdeen found that participants who ate up to 100 grams of chocolate per day had an 11 percent lower chance of contracting a cardiovascular disease and a 25 percent lower risk of associated death compared to those who didn’t indulge in the cocoa-derived treat.
Sugar aside, Live Science reported the 100 grams of chocolate equates to “about 22 Hershey’s Kisses, two Hershey bars, or two bags of M&M’s.”
While the study uncovered a link between chocolate and heart health, it didn’t prove cause-and-effect, reported HealthDay.
Dr. Mark Urman, a preventive cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, believes the findings “add to mounting evidence that chocolate appears to be heart-healthy.”
Meanwhile, co-author Phyo Kyaw Myint that there might be other potential explanations for the benefits found in the observational study.
For instance, the researchers saw that people who ate chocolate tended to be in better health.
“These people who were high consumers of chocolate tend to be younger and physically more active, they tend to have less diabetes and be less obese,” Myint told HealthDay. “Although we control for these things, we can’t be 100 percent sure whether we have adequately adjusted for them,” the professor continued.
“The key is only to have moderate consumption [of chocolate] and ensure one does not exceed the calorie intake recommended for their height or weight,” Myint informed Live Science.