LONDON
- A scientific study likely to stir the
souls of chocoholics has suggested that eating dark chocolate every day for 10
years could reduce the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes in some
high-risk patients.
A team
of researchers from Australia used a mathematical model to predict the
long-term health impact of daily dark chocolate consumption in 2,013 people
with a condition known as metabolic syndrome, which puts them at high risk of
heart disease.
The
team found that in the best case scenario - with no patient missing any daily
portions - the treatment could potentially avert 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal
heart attacks or strokes per 10,000 people over 10 years.
The
model also suggested that mounting effective "dark chocolate prevention
strategies" might cost an individual just 25 pounds (S$50) a year.
The
researchers, whose work was published in the British Medical Journal on Friday,
stressed the protective effects have only been shown for dark chocolate
containing at least 60 to 70 per cent cocoa - not for milk or white chocolate.
This is probably due to higher levels of flavonoids in dark chocolate.
But
experts not involved in the study urged caution.
"Recommendations
for daily consumption of dark chocolate ... will certainly get people with
metabolic syndrome excited, but at this point these findings are more
hypothetical than proven, and the results need real-life data to confirm,"
said Kenneth Ong at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in the United States.
"I
suspect that consuming dark chocolate every day for 10 years may have
unintended adverse consequences," he added. "The additional sugar and
caloric intake may negatively impact patients in this study, who are overweight
and glucose intolerant to begin with."
All
participants in the study, led by Christopher Reid at Monash University in
Melbourne, had high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome, but had no history
of heart disease or diabetes and were not on blood pressure lowering
medication.
Reuters
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