Sweet dreams: eating chocolate prevents heart disease

If you are a chocoholic, New England is tempting: middle-aged and older adults who consume up to 3.5 ounces of chocolate a day (which is more than two standard chocolate bars) appear have lower heart disease than those who despise chocolate rates.

At least that was the conclusion of a study that tracked the health of nearly 21,000 residents of Norfolk, England, for 11 years. Among those at the highest levels of chocolate consumption, 12% developed or died from heart disease during the study, compared with 17.4% of those who do not eat chocolate. The results were published online in the medical journal Heart.

Desire vs trials
 I am a chocolate lover. My new favorite is the chocolate ice cream called therapy. The name does not feel like a stretch, given the results of this study and long before that have linked chocolate consumption with a reduced risk of heart disease.As much as I like to think in this direction, and get to work on my own personal chocolate therapy, still do not know enough to eat chocolate on a par with the consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains .

All the major studios, including Norfolk, are observational studies. This means that the researchers asked questions about the eating habits of the participants, monitoring their health, and made statistical connections. These studies can provide important information. But they can not prove cause and effect. a randomized trial is necessary to do so.

It is possible that people who like to eat chocolate do more than offer heart protection, such as eating a variety of healthy foods. One of the interesting things about this research is that participants free chocolate group had a higher mean weight, inflammation of the arteries that damages, plus diabetes, they were less physically active and had diets with less fat per compared with consumers of chocolate.

Is chocolate milk Agreement?
 Most previous studies on the connection to the chocolate heart found that only dark chocolate offers no cardiovascular protection. In the study Norfolk, any type of chocolate, including chocolate milk, seemed to have the same beneficial effect.

Scientists are not sure what it is about chocolate that seems to promote heart health. It may be related to flavonoids, a type of antioxidant produced by plants. Flavonoids found in tea, red wine, blueberries, apples, pears, cherries and nuts.

Flavonoids are particularly abundant in the cocoa-bean seeds of the cocoa tree. Fermentation, drying, roasting the cocoa beans cocoa powder yields, used to make chocolate.

cocoa flavonoids have been shown to help lower blood pressure, improve blood flow to the brain and heart, preventing blood clots, and to fight against cell damage. They have also proven to help thinking skills. 

However chocolate recipe
 I usually write my patients a prescription for exercise, and sometimes eat more vegetables and fruits. I will not be writing prescriptions for chocolate in the foreseeable future.

But I will not say I do not eat chocolate in moderation of course. As Norfolk study investigators concluded, "There appears to be no evidence to say that chocolate should be avoided in those who are concerned about cardiovascular risk."

When it comes to chocolate or cocoa flavonoids, there is no recommended daily allowance has been established. The European Food Safety Authority suggested that 200 mg of cocoa flavanols per day is a good target for the general population.

The amount of cocoa in chocolate used varies greatly. To find out how you found you have to do some detective work. The amount of flavonoids in chocolate does not always appear.

Your best bet is to stick with dark chocolate. Generally, it has more cocoa and therefore more flavonoids than milk chocolate. He also less sugar and unhealthy saturated fats.

The higher the cocoa content of the bar, the better for your health. Look for bars with 70% cocoa or more.

I will continue with an ounce of dark chocolate every so often, with a little chocolate therapy between.