Evidence that chocolate cuts risk of stroke
Source: Agencies |
October 12, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TEMPTED by a chocolate bar? Maybe indulging every so often is not a bad thing, especially if it is dark chocolate.
According to a Swedish study in the Journal of the American College of Cardi-ology that looked at more than 33,000 women, the more chocolate the women said they ate, the lower their risk of stroke.
The results add to a growing body of evidence linking cocoa consumption to heart health, but they are not a free pass to gorge on chocolate.
Susanna Larsson, of Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, said: "Given the observational design of the study, the findings cannot prove it is chocolate that lowers the risk of stroke."
While she believes chocolate has health benefits, she also warned that eating too much could be counterproductive.
She said: "Chocolate should be consumed in moderation as it is high in calories, fat and sugar. As dark chocolate contains more cocoa and less sugar than milk chocolate, consumption of dark chocolate would be more beneficial."
Larsson and her colleagues tapped into data from a breast scan study that included self-reports of how much chocolate women aged from 49 to 83 ate in 1997.
Over the next decade, there were 1,549 strokes among the group. The more chocolate women ate, the lower their risk.
Among those with the highest weekly chocolate intake, more than 45 grams, there were 2.5 strokes per 1,000 women per year. The figure was 7.8 for women who ate the least, less than 8.9g a week.
Scientists speculate that substances known as flavonoids may be responsible for chocolate's apparent impact on health.
According to Larsson, flavonoids have been shown to cut high blood pressure and improve other blood factors linked to heart health. Whether that theoretical benefit translates to real-life benefits remains to be proven by rigorous studies, however.
Nearly 800,000 people annually in the US suffer a stroke - about one-sixth die as a result and many more are disabled.
For those at high risk, doctors recommend blood pressure medicine, quitting smoking, exercising more and eating a healthier diet - but so far, chocolate is not on the list of recommendations.
According to a Swedish study in the Journal of the American College of Cardi-ology that looked at more than 33,000 women, the more chocolate the women said they ate, the lower their risk of stroke.
The results add to a growing body of evidence linking cocoa consumption to heart health, but they are not a free pass to gorge on chocolate.
Susanna Larsson, of Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, said: "Given the observational design of the study, the findings cannot prove it is chocolate that lowers the risk of stroke."
While she believes chocolate has health benefits, she also warned that eating too much could be counterproductive.
She said: "Chocolate should be consumed in moderation as it is high in calories, fat and sugar. As dark chocolate contains more cocoa and less sugar than milk chocolate, consumption of dark chocolate would be more beneficial."
Larsson and her colleagues tapped into data from a breast scan study that included self-reports of how much chocolate women aged from 49 to 83 ate in 1997.
Over the next decade, there were 1,549 strokes among the group. The more chocolate women ate, the lower their risk.
Among those with the highest weekly chocolate intake, more than 45 grams, there were 2.5 strokes per 1,000 women per year. The figure was 7.8 for women who ate the least, less than 8.9g a week.
Scientists speculate that substances known as flavonoids may be responsible for chocolate's apparent impact on health.
According to Larsson, flavonoids have been shown to cut high blood pressure and improve other blood factors linked to heart health. Whether that theoretical benefit translates to real-life benefits remains to be proven by rigorous studies, however.
Nearly 800,000 people annually in the US suffer a stroke - about one-sixth die as a result and many more are disabled.
For those at high risk, doctors recommend blood pressure medicine, quitting smoking, exercising more and eating a healthier diet - but so far, chocolate is not on the list of recommendations.
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