We all knew that chocolate made us FEEL good, but a new study has revealed that it could actually be good for the heart.
According to research carried out by scientists at the University of Aberdeen, eating up to 100g of chocolate every day is linked to lowered heart disease and stroke risk.
The team based their findings on a study of almost 21,000 adults in the UK, as well as a systematic review of the available international published evidence on the links between chocolate and cardiovascular disease, involving almost 158,000 people.
Published online in the
BMJ Journal Heart, the study revealed that compared to those who ate no chocolate, people who ate up to a small bar a day had an 11 per cent lesser risk of cardiovascular disease and a 23 per cent reduced risk of stroke. The beneficial health effects even extend to milk chocolate, which is considered to be less ‘healthy’ than dark chocolate.
The researchers concluded that there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of moderate consumption of chocolate increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, but they also warned that this did not prove that chocolate makes you healthier.
