New Research Reveals Chocolate Does a Heart Good

Chocolate lovers looking to lower their risk of heart disease will be pleased with new research published in the BMJ journal Heart. According to the study, habitual chocolate consumption may decrease the chances of a future cardiovascular event. 

The study’s researchers analyzed long-term health data for almost 21,000 adults who live in England. They found that adults who ate up to 100 grams of chocolate per day—the same as eating two and a half Hershey bars—were 11 percent less likely to have a heart attack or stroke than adults who never ate chocolate. 

Chocolate eaters also had a 25 percent lower chance of dying from cardiovascular disease than non-chocolate eaters. These findings held true even when researchers made adjustments for factors like age, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption. 

Researchers also observed that the habitual chocolate eaters who participated in the study had other lower risk factors like BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, inflammatory proteins and diabetes.  

Although the study reveals a strong correlation between habitual chocolate consumption and a decreased risk of heart disease, researchers say it does not prove that chocolate actually reduces the risk. They say reverse causation may play a part in the results since people with an increased risk of heart disease tend to restrict their diet and avoid chocolate more than healthier individuals. 

One surprising finding of the study is that participants ate more milk chocolate than dark chocolate suggesting that chocolate’s benefits are not limited to the highly touted flavonoids found in dark chocolate.

"This may indicate that not only flavonoids, but also other compounds, possibly related to milk constituents, such as calcium and fatty acids, may provide an explanation for the observed association,” says researcher Phyo Myint, a professor at the University of Aberdeen Institute of Applied Health Sciences. 

To learn more, read the entire article.