Patriot Health Digest
During the past ten years, several studies have researched the possible heart benefits of chocolate. Cardiologists seemed to regard the earliest reports with skepticism.
But during these past intervening years, a lot of evidence has come out that most cardiologists now say shows the cardiovascular benefits people can get from chocolate.
The Studies
Numerous studies have made a connection between chocolate and improved heart health. These have usually been observational in nature, and while their results are useful for creating theories, they cannot prove a cause-and-effect connection.
But regardless, essentially every study on the topic has shown a link between eating chocolate and better cardiovascular health. Several of these have linked chocolate with lower blood pressure. And one has revealed that women who eat chocolate experience a large reduction in risk of heart failure.
In 2011, a seven study analysis in the British Medical Journal revealed that chocolate was connected to a 39 percent decrease in heart disease and a 29 percent decrease in stroke.
An analysis in 2015 in the EPIC-Norfolk study discovered that, over a 12-year time frame, the people who consumed the most chocolate had 11 percent LESS incidence of coronary artery disease, and a 25 percent less incidence of heart-linked death, than those who did not consume chocolate.
These studies are not iron-clad. They do not prove without a doubt that eating chocolate helps your heart health, but they do show there is a convincing link.
Why Is Chocolate Beneficial?
Investigators say it could be the flavanols inside chocolate that help with vascular improvement. These flavanols can cause blood vessels to be more elastic, improve your insulin sensitivity, reduce platelets’ stickiness, and lower your blood pressure.
How Much To Eat?
The correct amount of chocolate to get a cardiovascular benefit is not yet known. The studies say that the heart-health benefits were generally described to be between 100 grams per day and consuming some form of chocolate “more than once per week.”
Most researchers say that the benefit (if there is one) can be had by consuming chocolate once or twice a week.
