With the financial and housing meltdown continuing to scare us all, we can take comfort in chocolate. A study in Italy indicates that a small amount of dark chocolate is good for the heart.
Chocolate is known to be high in antioxidants including epicatechin. The first really good evidence that cocoa may be beneficial came from the Kuna Indian population of Panama. Those Indians that lived on islands consumed lots of cocoa, whereas those that lived on the mainland did not drink much cocoa. Those that lived on the islands had much lower rates of heart disease and cancer. It was suggested that the reason was the cocoa. However, of course, there were other differences in the lifestyle and eating habits between the different two populations. So, though it is likely that cocoa was the main reason for the difference it was not conclusive.
There have been a number of studies that have suggested that chocolate is good for us. In a study of smokers it was suggested to slow hardening of the arteries. Another study suggested it can lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol. All these studies were done in controlled studies with volunteers being assigned to different groups for comparison.
The newly published study looked at one population of people. In large population studies other confounding factors such as smoking, weight, age and sex can be separated from the parameter being studied. There are 20,000 people from a region of Italy enrolled in a study that is looking at a range of things. One part of the study compared regular chocolate consumption to levels of C reactive protein (hsCRP). C reactive protein is a good marker for the development of cardiovascular disease.
The findings were that those who regularly consumed dark chocolate had lower levels of C reactive protein. The researchers calculated that the lower levels were equivalent to a reduction of cardiovascular risk (heart disease and stroke) of a third for women and a quarter for men.
Interestingly the intake of dark chocolate only needed to be equivalent to about 2/3 of an ounce every 3 days. The researchers suggest that those that had high consumption lost some of the benefit. This study did not look at milk chocolate or consumption of cocoa as a drink.
Perhaps we should think about dark chocolate (with at least 70% cocoa solids) as another supplement and take a small amount on a regular schedule.
[tags]dark chocolate, cocoa, C reactive protein, hsCRP[/tags]
