Eating chocolate ‘IS good for you – boosting your heart health’
NO, you didn't read that wrong... chocolate can be good for your health, experts said.
It's been claimed chocolate can help protect your heart, boost your workout and help tackle wrinkles, and now there's more good news.
Compounds in dark chocolate can protect against cardiometabolic diseases - which include type 2 diabetes and narrowing of the arteries, which can trigger heart attack.
To arrive at their conclusion - one chocoholics will rejoice at - scientists reviewed 19 different studies looking at the effect eating chocolate has on a person's health.
The findings, published in the Journal Of Nutrition, show flavanols help reduce blood-sugar levels and increase 'good' cholesterol.
However, the scientists recognise a number of limitations with the trials reviewed, noting few looked at the direct link between cocoa and heart attack or type 2 diabetes risk.
Related Stories
Dr Simin Liu, professor and director of the Center for Global Cardiometabolic Health at Brown University, said the findings could help shape future studies to develop new treatments to prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
He said: "We found that cocoa flavanol intake may reduce dyslipidemia (elevated triglycerides), insulin resistance and systemic inflammation, which are all major subclinical risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases."
Cardiometabolic diseases include type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic vascular disease, where plaque builds up inside the arteries, leading to a narrowing and raising the risk of heart attack.
Dr Lin acknowledged the 19 trials, which involved 1,139 volunteers, did have some limitations.
All studies were small, and of short duration - and none were designed to specifically look at whether eating chocolate can reduce the risk of heart attack or type 2 diabetes.
But, the researchers noted small to modest "but statistically significant" improvements among the volunteers who ate flavanol-rich cocoa, versus those who did not.
We found that cocoa flavanol intake may reduce... insulin resistance and systemic inflammation, which are all major subclinical risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases
Dr Simin Liu, Brown University
The greatest effects were seen among volunteers who ate between 200 and 600 milligrams of flavanols a day.
The higher percentage of cacao in dark chocolate (so 70 per cent dark chocolate), the higher the number of flavanols.
Those volunteers eating 200 to 600 milligrams of flavanols saw significant declines in blood sugar level and insulin, and an increase in HDL, or 'good' cholesterol.
Those eating higher doses saw some of the insulin benefits but not a significant increase in HDL.
Those with lower flavanols only saw significant HDL benefit.
Dr Lin said there were benefits evident for both women and men, and it did not depend on the physical form the flavanol-rich chocolate took - dark chocolate versus hot chocolate drink, for example.
The authors concluded: "Our study highlights the urgent need for large, long-term randomised clinical trials that improve our understanding of how the short-term benefits of cocoa flavanol intake on cardiometabolic biomarkers may be translated into clinical outcomes."