Objective To examine the association between chocolate intake and the risk of future cardiovascular events.
Chocolate aficionados can rejoice: according to British study results published in “Heart”, regular consumption of the popular sweet substance may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Scientists at the University of Aberdeen analysed data of 21,000 participants in the EPIC Norfolk study as well as literature covering chocolate and heart disease. Average chocolate consumption came to seven grammes per day, consumption ranging from no chocolate at all (around 20 per cent) to 100 grammes per day. 14 per cent of the participants experienced heart disease or stroke during the 12 years the study ran.
Compared with those who did not eat any chocolate, the chocolate-eating participants were 11 per cent less likely to develop cardiovascular disease and 25 per cent less likely to die from it. Furthermore, they had lower blood pressure, lower inflammation scores and lower rates of diabetes. Interestingly, the participants who consumed chocolate regularly even had a lower BMI and higher levels of physical activity, and they were, on average, younger.
Those with the highest daily consumption still showed a 23 per cent reduced risk of stroke. These results held true not only for dark chocolate but also for milk chocolate.
Because this was only an observational study, no causal association can be made, the study authors emphasise. However, the combined data indicate that higher chocolate consumption is linked to a reduced risk of future cardiovascular disease.
Conclusions Cumulative evidence suggests that higher chocolate intake is associated with a lower risk of future cardiovascular events, although residual confounding cannot be excluded. There does not appear to be any evidence to say that chocolate should be avoided in those who are concerned about cardiovascular risk.
Habitual chocolate consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease among healthy men and women : Heart doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2014-307050