A new British study published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal and presented at European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris, France, suggests that people who consume large amounts of chocolate on a regular basis lowered their risk of having a cardiovascular event. The research team, from the department of public health and primary care at Cambridge University in England, did a meta-analysis, which is a type of study where researchers comb the medical literature to find trends in relevant published studies. This involved data collection on more than 110,000 people.The study results showed evidence that eating a lot of chocolate reduced the risk of an individual suffering coronary heart disease or a stroke. The researchers found that people who ate the most chocolate (2 or more bars/wk.) had a 37% lower risk of having a cardiovascular event compared to those who ate the least (less than 2 chocolate bars/wk.). And the highest chocolate consumers had a 29% lower incidence of stroke compared to the lowest chocolate consumers.
One of the lead researchers, Dr. Oscar Franco, told BBC News the findings were “promising”, but that further research was needed to identify exactly why chocolate had this apparent positive effect on the health of the individual. The study also warned that eating large amounts of chocolate can lead to weight gain and Type 2 diabetes. It did suggest that chocolate could one day be used to protect people from heart problems and stroke – if the sugar and fat content of chocolate bars was reduced
Recent studies have reported Chocolate has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which can have a positive impact on our health, from regulating insulin sensitivity to controlling blood pressure.
The study did not receive funding from chocolate manufacturers.
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