- Everyday we seem to read more and more about the many health benefits of of dark chocolate. Chocolate can help with weight loss, chocolate can be a brain booster, chocolate can be good for our heart. Enough chocolate?
- Not just yet, now we hear that one bar of chocolate a week is linked to a lower risk of stroke in men and women.
- Modest amounts of chocolate may reduce the risk of stroke in men, judging by a new study from Sweden’s famed Karolinska Institute.
- “While other studies have looked at how chocolate may help cardiovascular health, this is the first, to find that chocolate may be beneficial for reducing stroke in men,” said lead author Susanna C. Larsson, Ph.D.
- This news echoes results from a similar diet-health study in women, published last year by the same team.
- Chocolate linked to reduced stroke risk in men
- For the new study, 37,103 Swedish men were given a diet intake questionnaire that included questions about chocolate intake. Compared with those who ate no chocolate, the men who ate the most chocolate were 17 percent less likely to have suffered a stroke.
- Prior study linked chocolate to stroke reduction in women
- Last year, Larsson’s team published the results of a similar study, in which they followed 33,372 women for 10 years.
- They answered questions about how often they had eaten chocolate during the year before. Larsson’s team separated the women into eight categories based on the amount of chocolate they reported eating.
- The median intake of the women in the highest-chocolate-intake group was about 2.3 ounces a week.
- During the decade of follow-up, the women in the chocolate-loving group were 20 percent less likely to experience a stroke.
- Both studies were supported by the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, the Swedish Research Council/Committee for Infrastructure, and the Karolinska Institute.
- Credit given to cocoa’s rare antioxidants:
- According to Dr. Larsson, “The beneficial effect of chocolate consumption on stroke may be related to the flavonoids in chocolate. Flavonoids appear to be protective against cardiovascular disease through antioxidant, anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory properties.”
- Take a green step and include dark chocolate in your diet. Remember that the best kind is a dark and organic chocolate that contains a minimum of 75% cocoa.
- For the entire story.
- For Chocolate’s Heart Benefits Affirmed.
- Eating apples may reduce the risk of stroke.
- For a cholesterol health smoothie recipe.
- For 12 tips to lower cholesterol.
- For the health benefits of apples.
- Guidelines for stroke prevention in women.
- For a stroke prevention smoothie.
- Chocolate may reduce risk of stroke.
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