Chocolate Could Protect Against Heart Attacks

Antioxidants in Chocolate Provide a Cardio-protective Effect

Sep 15, 2009 Sue Cartledge

A new study suggests that people who regularly eat chocolate are more likely to recover from a heart attack, and the more chocolate they eat, the healthier they become

People who regularly eat chocolate or drink cocoa have another reason to enjoy their favourite treat – it’s possible the antioxidants in chocolate may have a protective effect on their cardiovascular system.

A Swedish study published in the September 2009 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that patients who reported eating chocolate regularly over the 12 months before their first heart attack, recovered better than patients who never or seldom ate chocolate.

What’s more, the chocolate eaters retained the health benefits compared to their non-chocolate eating fellows for the eight years of the study.

The More Chocolate Eaten, The Greater the Cardio Benefits

At the start of the study, after their first heart attack, the patients filled out a questionnaire reporting whether they ate chocolate less than once per month, up to once per week or twice or more per week

Three months after their discharge from the hospital, they had a health test, then the researchers from the Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, followed them for the next eight years using Swedish national registries of hospitalizations and deaths.

After controlling for age, sex, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, education and other factors, they found that the more chocolate these patients consumed, the more likely they were to survive after a heart attack.

Compared with people who ate none, those who ate chocolate less than once a month had a 27 percent reduction in their risk for cardiac death, those who ate it up to once a week had a 44 percent reduction and those who indulged twice or more a week had a 66 percent reduced risk of dying from a subsequent heart attack.

Cardio Benefits Seen in Those who Ate Chocolate

“Chocolate consumption was associated with lower cardiac mortality in a dose dependent manner in patients free of diabetes surviving their first AMI (heart attack)”, the researchers reported.

While the chocolate eaters enjoyed better cardiac health, participants in the study who didn’t eat chocolate but ate other kinds of confectionery gained no benefit.

A co-author of the paper, Dr Kenneth J Mukamal, associate professor of medicine at Harvard University, said that there was considerable data from other studies suggesting that chocolate lowered blood pressure and that this might be a cause of the lower cardiac mortality found in their study.

Antioxidants in Chocolate May be Cardio-protective

Cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, is known to be rich in bioflavonoids and polyphenols, which may reduce the risk of illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

Eating dark chocolate containing flavonol-rich cocoa improves blood flow to the heart and other organs. A study in 2007 by researchers from the Department of Pharmacology, University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, showed that consuming foods rich in cocoa may reduce blood pressure in people with hypertension.

Don’t Overdo Chocolate Consumption

Despite the health benefits of consuming cocoa and chocolate, health experts warn to enjoy chocolate, as with any food, in moderation.

Chocolate is high in fat and sugar. Milk chocolate, as well as having these drawbacks, doesn’t contain enough cocoa to provide the bioflavonoid effect.

Dr Mukamal warned chocolate lovers not to get too excited about the results of the study. “Although this is interesting and provocative, chocolate does not come without costs,” he said.

“For people looking for a small snack to finish a meal, this is a great choice. But it should be supplementing healthy eating and replacing less healthy snacks.”

You might also be interested in Hot Cocoa’s Antioxidant Power, Chocolate Cravings and Mood and Cardio-protective Power of Grapes.

The copyright of the article Chocolate Could Protect Against Heart Attacks in Nutrition is owned by Sue Cartledge. Permission to republish Chocolate Could Protect Against Heart Attacks in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Dark Chocolate Can Protect Your Heart