A little chocolate a day keeps the cardiologist away

Hamburg - Eating a little chocolate every day seems to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a team of German scientists.

The researchers have produced a study that builds on evidence that chocolate, especially dark chocolate, can lower your risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke by 39 per cent, albeit if taken in very small amounts.

The study was careful to caution against eating too much chocolate, however.

The study's lead author, Brian Buijsse of the German Institute of Human Nutrition, recommended replacing sugary or high-fat snacks with small amounts of chocolate.

Buijsse added, 'Dark chocolate exhibits the greatest effects, milk chocolate fewer, and white chocolate no effects.'

The results, published in the European Heart Journal, showed chocolate consumption appears to lower cardiovascular disease risk, in part through reducing blood pressure
.

The inverse association may be stronger for stroke than for heart attacks, the German scientists said. But they cautioned that further research is needed, in particular randomized trials.

In the eight-year study, dietary intake, including chocolate, and blood pressure were assessed in 19,357 participants aged 35 to 65 years free of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke and not using blood pressure medication. The trials were conducted in association with the Potsdam arm of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

The test subjects answered questionnaires asking about their diet and exercise habits. The subjects who consumed an average of 7.5 grams of chocolate a day had a significantly lower incidence of heart attack or stroke than those who consumed much less chocolate, an average of 1.7 grams a day.