Heart attack survivors who snack on chocolate at least twice a week could greatly reduce their risk of dying from coronary disease, according to research.
A Swedish study shows victims who eat chocolate regularly are nearly 70 per cent less likely to die from cardiac problems than those who rarely eat it.
Even a weekly chocolate treat can help, almost halving the risk of death from heart problems.
The findings, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, are the latest in a long line of studies highlighting the health benefits of chocolate, especially dark chocolate.
Dark chocolate
Previous investigations have found dark chocolate, which is rich in disease-busting antioxidants called flavonoids, can lower the risk of blood clots, protect against bowel cancer and even help prevent premature births.
Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease.
Every year, around 270,000 people in Britain suffer a heart attack, and coronary disease remains Britain’s biggest killer
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November 13th, 2009 at 5:34 am
T can cut the risk of heart disease, reduce blood pressure and boost brain power – and now it is claimed to be the ultimate stress-buster.
As well as being good to eat, dark chocolate can help melt away stress in even the most exhausted among us, research revealed yesterday.
Not just any old chocolate, mind you. It has to be good quality and of the dark or plain variety. And you mustn’t eat too much.
Up to 10 squares or 40 grams a day can reduce levels of stress hormones during times of high anxiety, researchers said. It also helps to rebalance other stress-related chemicals in the body.
The study adds to the growing reputation of plain chocolate as the latest superfood because of an antioxidant it contains called flavanol.
Flavanol helps protect against harmful molecules which accumulate in the body and is thought to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.
Chocolate has been linked to protecting against skin and bowel cancer, lowering the risk of blood clots and helping to prevent premature births.
In addition, it has long been used as a pick-me-up by people who are feeling low.
The study, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, asked 30 people to eat 20g of dark chocolate in the morning and evening for 14 days. A series of examinations before, during and after, measured their metabolism rates, levels of the stress hormone cortisol as well as other factors like adrenalin levels.
Those in the group classified as “high anxiety” had higher levels of stress hormones and lower levels of other “markers” which are meant to correct stress.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/140070/How-a-daily-dose-of-dark-chocolate-can-cure-stress-
March 24th, 2010 at 6:20 am
Once regarded as a health sin, chocolate is now being hailed as a superfood because of the high levels of health-boosting antioxidants it contains.
Other ingredients include theobromine, which is good for the nervous system.
A recent study at Imperial College London showed chocolate can suppress persistent coughing. Another compound, phenylethylamine, is thought to have a mood-boosting effect.
Meanwhile, antioxidants in chocolate are said to protect the skin against UV damage.
They also boost cardio-vascular health (these health benefits all accrue from dark chocolate, as it is higher in cocoa solids).
In fact, so good is chocolate that it’s no longer just a healthy indulgence – some doctors are now recommending it as a form of treatment.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1259920/Chocolate-hailed-superfood.html
March 30th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Easter eggs and other chocolate can be good for you, as long as you eat only small amounts, latest research suggests.
The study of over 19,000 people, published in the European Heart Journal, found those who ate half a bar a week had lower blood pressure.
They also had a 39% lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Heart campaigners warned that too much chocolate is damaging because is has a lot of calories and saturated fat.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8593887.stm
April 27th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
People who regularly eat chocolate are more depressive, experts have found.
Research in Archives of Internal Medicine shows those who eat at least a bar every week are more glum than those who only eat chocolate now and again.
Many believe chocolate has the power to lift mood, and the US team say this may be true, although scientific proof for this is lacking.
But they say they cannot rule out that chocolate may be a cause rather than the cure for being depressed.
In the study, which included nearly 1,000 adults, the more chocolate the men and women consumed the lower their mood.
Those who ate the most – more than six regular 28g size bars a month – scored the highest on depression, using a recognised scale.
None of the men and women were on antidepressants or had been diagnosed as clinically depressed by a doctor.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8644016.stm
August 17th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Easting small amounts of chocolate can help protect women from heart failure, a study has suggested.
The study is the latest to point to benefits from the sweet snack.
However consuming chocolate every day, seemed to eliminate its positive benefits.
In a nine-year study, conducted among 31,823 Swedish women, researchers looked at the relationship between the amount of high-quality dark chocolate the eaten and the risk of heart failure.
The researchers found that women who ate an average of one to two servings of the high-quality chocolate per week had a 32 per cent lower risk of developing heart failure.
Those who had one to three servings per month had a 26 per cent lower risk, but those who ate at least one serving daily or more didn’t appear to benefit from a protective effect against heart failure.
Lead researcher Dr Murray Mittleman said the lack of a protective effect among women eating chocolate every day was probably due to the additional calories gained from eating chocolate instead of more nutritious foods.
Dr Mittleman, director of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, said: “You can’t ignore that chocolate is a relatively calorie-dense food and large amounts of habitual consumption is going to raise your risks for weight gain.
“But if you’re going to have a treat, dark chocolate is probably a good choice, as long as it’s in moderation.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7948132/Chocolate-can-cut-heart-failure-risk.html
September 17th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Chocolatecomprises a number of raw and processed foods produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC.
The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocol?tl, a Nahuatl word meaning “bitter water”. The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.
After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted, and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground to cocoa mass, pure chocolate in rough form. Because this cocoa mass usually is liquefied then molded with or without other ingredients, it is called chocolate liquor.
The liquor also may be processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Unsweetened baking chocolate (bitter chocolate) contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, combining cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat, and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids.
Cocoa solids contain alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Some research found that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure.
The presence of theobromine renders it toxic to some animals, especially dogs and cats. Chocolate has become one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on Easter, chocolate coins on Hanukkah, Santa Claus and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and chocolate hearts or chocolate in heart-shaped boxes on Valentine’s Day.
Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and hot chocolate.
Around three quarters of the world’s cacao bean production takes place in West Africa.
September 24th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Good news for chocoholics: A new US study has shown that people who ate chocolate more than five times a week were 57 per cent less likely to have coronary heart disease than those who never ate it.
This was after taking into account other factors such as overall energy and fruit and vegetable intake, and family history of heart disease.
According to the study of almost 5000 Americans, people who ate chocolate less frequently, between one and four times each week, were 26 per cent less likely to have heart disease.
“Even smaller amounts of chocolate [with few extra calories] may have beneficial effects on cardiovascular health,” Stuff.co.nz quoted the study authors as saying.
Jonathan Hodgson, a research professor at the University of Western Australia, said the study reflected a growing body of evidence linking antioxidants known as flavonoids – found in cocoa – with lower risks of cardiovascular disease.
“These antioxidants are also found in fruits and vegetables, and particularly in tea. I think you need to be a little careful promoting chocolate because the flavonoids may be beneficial but it also has saturated fats which may be detrimental,”” he said.
He said 20 to 30 grams of chocolate three times each week would have little impact on a person”s energy and saturated fat intake, and has been linked with heart health.
But trials were needed before researchers could definitively say eating chocolate would protect against heart disease.
The study appears in Clinical Nutrition.
September 29th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
They are not flavours you would normally connect.
But Marmite is challenging perceptions of taste by combining its yeast spread with chocolate.
The ‘Very Peculiar’ milk chocolate bars cost £3 and will be available from Monday in stores including BHS and Debenhams, and online.
Like the brand’s advertising slogan, the new line is likely to prompt ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ reviews.
The strong-smelling 100g bar is made with 98 per cent milk chocolate and two per cent Marmite flavouring. This includes yeast extract, onion powder and garlic powder.
Chef Rowley Leigh, owner of Le Café Anglais in West London, agreed to try the new product for the Daily Mail. He was not impressed.
‘The thing is, they have so little faith in the product that there is hardly any Marmite in it. Although you can smell it quite strongly, the taste only comes at the finish,’ he said.
‘They have tried to make it as mild and sweet and innocuous as they can. It starts out as slightly bland chocolate but, in the background, it is deeply nauseating.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316390/Marmite-chocolate–love-hate-it.html
November 11th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Dark chocolate has been shown to have a beneficial effect on the heart in numerous studies, and now scientists know why.
Scientists from Linkoping University in Sweden found snacking on a slab of the cocoa-rich treat inhibits an enzyme in the body that is known to raise blood pressure.
In fact it was as effective as blood pressure drugs designed for the same purpose.
Lead researcher Ingrid Persson said: ‘We have previously shown that green tea inhibits the enzyme ACE, which is involved in the body’s fluid balance and blood pressure regulation.
‘Now we wanted to study the effect of cocoa, since the active substances catechins and procyanidines are related.’
Catechins and procyanidines are antioxidants that can reduce the damage oxygen can do to cells.
The team recruited 16 healthy non-smoking volunteers for the study. Two days before the study they were not allowed to eat chocolate or anything containing similar compounds, including many berries, nor could they drink coffee, tea, or wine.
Everyone in the group gave a blood sample both before and after eating 75 grams of unsweetened chocolate with a cocoa content of 72 per cent.
Scientists found ACE enzyme activity was reduced by 18 per cent three hours after the cocoa dose. This is comparable to the effect of drugs that inhibit ACE and are used as a first-choice treatment for high blood pressure.
When the activities of the enzyme decline, the blood pressure goes down with time. As expected, no such effect was found in the subjects. To show this, the study would have to continue over a longer period.
Drug researcher Ms Persson said: ‘Our findings indicate that changes in lifestyle with the help of foods that contain large concentrations of catechins and procyaninides prevent cardiovascular diseases.’
November 21st, 2010 at 5:17 pm
“Nibbling dark chocolate can seriously improve your health – and even help you look younger,” according to the Daily Mirror. The newspaper says a new study suggests that chemicals in dark chocolate (called flavanols) could help prevent wrinkles and skin cancer caused by sunlight.
There are several major limitations to the way this study was conducted, as well as to the way it was reported by newspapers. As attractive as these claims are, they are unlikely to be true. The assumption that the results of this study can be applied to the ageing of skin or skin cancer is wrong. Some newspapers have correctly pointed out that the dark chocolate studied in this research is not the type that can be bought in shops.
While dark chocolate may be tasty, there must be more rigorous research into the substances it contains if today’s headlines are to be supported by science.
Where did the story come from?
The research was carried out by Dr Stefanie Williams and colleagues from London University of the Arts and European Dermatology London, a private dermatology clinic which provides both medical and cosmetic services. The study was funded by the London University of the Arts and was published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, the official journal of the International Academy of Cosmetic Dermatology.
The Daily Telegraph interpreted this study as showing that dark chocolate protects against ageing, whereas the Daily Mail has questioned whether it might protect against wrinkles.
What kind of research was this?
This study was designed to be a double-blind, randomised controlled trial which tested whether chocolate consumption had a protective effect against skin damage from light exposure.
The researchers recruited 30 healthy subjects and split them into two groups of 15. Each group was given chocolate that was either high in flavanols (HF) or low in flavanols (LF). Flavanols are a class of flavonoids, which are plant-derived substances that are believed by some to have antioxidant properties. Flavanols are also found in foods such as green tea, pomegranates, goji berries and blueberries. The volunteers were asked to eat 20g of the chocolate every day for three months.
Randomised double-blind studies are the ideal study type for this sort of research, but they need to be conducted and reported correctly. The way that participants are randomly allocated to the two groups (randomisation) and the way that the allocation was kept secret from the study investigators (blinding) need to be described in detail. This was not done in this publication.
What did the research involve?
In this study, the researchers recruited 22 healthy women and eight men with an average age of 43. They selected people who were considered pale and fair skinned according to the Fitzpatrick skin classification scale, an accepted scale used to class people’s complexion and tolerance of sunlight. This means that all patients in this study either burn easily (phototype II) or tan after an initial burn (phototype III). It is important to know how many of each phototype were allocated to the HF and LF groups and also how many in each group were men. This information is not stated in the publication, so it is not possible to tell how successful the researchers’ randomisation process was.
The HF chocolate was manufactured in Belgium using a method that the researchers say preserves the naturally high level of flavanols found in cocoa beans. The LF chocolate was made by a more common method using higher temperatures. It is not clear if the chocolates tasted different. As this was not tested, the participants and researchers may have been aware of which type of chocolate was being eaten.
Researchers tested the skin of all participants at the start of the study and after the 12-week course of chocolate. They used a testing method called minimal UVB erythema dose (MED), in which an automated device delivers increasingly strong doses of ultra-violet light to the front of the forearms.
MED is measured according to the power of the light, the area of the light beam and how long it is applied to the skin, and is expressed as units of J/cm2 (joules per square centimetre). The researchers adjusted the strength of the MED doses for the individual skin types and recorded the level of UV light at which the skin became burned.
What were the basic results?
Of the 30 subjects recruited, 28 completed the study. After the 12 weeks, the average MED in the LF chocolate group did not change, while in the HF group it increased by more than double.
* For the people eating LF chocolate, the MED at the start was 0.124 J/cm2 and increased to 0.132 at week 12 (not statistically significant).
* For the people eating HF chocolate, the MED at the start was 0.109 J/cm2 and increased to 0.223 at week 12 (statistically significant).
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers say that “our controlled, double-blind, randomized in vivo study demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, that regular consumption of a chocolate rich in flavanols confers substantial photoprotection and can thus be effective at protecting human skin from harmful UV effects.” They say that conventional chocolate had no such effect, and that the main underlying mechanism of action is likely to be the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of cocoa flavanols.
Conclusion
This small study has several problems that mean care should be taken when interpreting its results. In particular, this study did not look at long-term damage to the skin, ageing of skin or people’s risk of skin cancer, which were all discussed in the press coverage. The actual measure assessed was skin burning in volunteers with an average age of 43.
In the researchers’ reporting of their results, there was a lack of detailed description of the blinding and randomisation procedures used to allocate people to groups. This means it is unclear whether the large difference in the way that skin burned or tanned between the groups was due to differences in the participants’ skin types or chocolate consumption.
Although the administration of UV light to cause the “erythema dose” may have been done objectively, it is not clear how the researchers assessing skin reaction were blinded and whether a sound method was used to prevent them knowing which chocolate group a participant was in.
While the idea that eating chocolate every day can protect the skin is appealing, this research has a number of limitations. It is sensible to reduce the risks of skin ageing and skin cancer by following current sun safety guidelines.