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If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for more excuses to eat chocolate. Studies have already proven that there are various benefits of chocolate consumption, including improved memory and lowered cholesterol, but new studies now show that chocolate could be good for brain and heart health.
A recent collection of nine studies, lead by several universities across the United Kingdom, spanned 12 years and 150,000 people, and the results are promising. Not only is daily chocolate consumption linked to lowered risk of stroke and heart disease, but there’s also no real evidence that cutting out chocolate does anything to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Those in the study with a higher consumption of chocolate ate anywhere between seven to 100 grams per day. These participants tended also to have an active lifestyle and a lower BMI, despite their chocolate consumption, and they tended to be at an 11 percent lowered risk of cardiovascular disease and a 23 percent lowered risk of stroke, even with other risk factors.
In five of the nine studies, chocolate was linked to an overall 25 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and a 45 percent lower risk of associated death. Wow!
Of course, this doesn’t mean it’s now accepted as healthy to eat three slices of chocolate cake a day. As with all studies, these conclusions may not apply to everyone, and there’s no one saying that there’s no wrong way to eat chocolate. Eating excessive amounts of chocolate as part of processed snacks, baked goods, or blended coffee drinks is as unhealthy as it ever was.
But indulging in the occasional bite of chocolate? Don’t sweat it. Your heart may thank you for it in the long run.
As for me, I like to keep a bar of high quality, fair trade dark chocolate at home to snack on.
How do you indulge your chocolate craving?
Photo Copyright © 2013 sethbaur/Flickr
