UK - Can a decade of dark chocolate protect your heart?

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

USA - Chocolate-eaters have lower body mass, says study

WASHINGTON: Healthy people who exercise and also eat chocolate regularly tend to have a lower body mass index than those who eat the rich brown sweets less often, a US study suggested on Monday.

The survey of a population of more than 1,000 adults, published as a research letter in the Archives of Internal Medicine, reinforces the notion that chocolate packs heart healthy benefits, despite its high calorie and sugar content.

People in the study, whose ages ranged from 20 to 85, reported eating chocolate an average of twice a week and exercising an average of 3.6 times a week.

Those who said they ate chocolate more often than the norm tended to have a lower ratio of weight over height, a calculation made by taking a person's weight and dividing it by their height times two.

A normal BMI is typically 18.5 to 24.9, while people who figure lower are considered underweight and those above 25 are overweight.

"Adults who consumed chocolate more frequently had a lower BMI than those who consumed chocolate less often," said the study led by Beatrice Golomb and colleagues at the University of California San Diego.

"Our findings - that more frequent chocolate intake is linked to lower BMI - are intriguing," it added, calling for more detailed research and perhaps a randomised clinical trial of chocolate's metabolic benefits.

While the research stopped short of establishing a reasonable or beneficial limit for chocolate-eating, experts urged moderation.

"Before you start eating a chocolate bar a day to keep the doctor away, remember that a chocolate bar can contain over 200 calories which mostly come from saturated fats and sugar," said Nancy Copperman, director of Public Health Initiatives at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New York.

"Consider limiting your chocolate fix to a one ounce (28 grams) portion of dark chocolate or adding cocoa powder which is very low in fat to your food once a day," said Copperman, who was not involved in the study.

Chocolate's benefits are rooted in antioxidant polyphenols which can improve blood pressure, and also help lower cholesterol levels and blood sugar.

Other studies have even linked chocolate to a lower risk of death by heart attack.

Chocolate's curious ability to improve heart health is usually considered as part of a lifestyle that includes exercise and moderation in diet, according to Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, who was not involved in the study.

"We have seen in multiple studies the benefits of chocolate, and yet again, we see as part of an overall healthy lifestyle, chocolate does not add to weight gain, but in fact, might help control it," she said.

- AFP/de