Six bars of chocolate a week could cut risk of common heart condition

Published: 24-May-2017

Eating up to six bars of chocolate a week could potentially reduce the risk of a heart condition by almost 25%, a study by Harvard University suggests

The research, carried out on more than 50,000 people, found strong links between regularly eating a chocolate treat and a reduced risk of suffering a heart flutter. The strongest association was found among men eating between two and six portions of chocolate a week - with a portion classified as 30g (a small bar). Those doing so had a 23% lower risk of developing atrial fibrillation, compared with those avoiding such treats.

Among women, the effect was linked to eating just one portion a week, which was linked to a 21% lower risk. But other experts said the group eating the least chocolate were unhealthier in other ways - meaning it might not be the daily treats that explained the better heart health of those who liked to indulge.

More than 1.5 million people in the UK suffer from atrial fibrillation, with one in four likely to develop it over a lifetime. The condition, also known as a heart flutter, doubles the risk of dying from other cardiac conditions, including stroke, heart attacks and heart failure.

It occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become jumbled, so that blood is pumped less effectively, increasing the chance of strokes and heart attacks. It is thought that chocolate may have an anti-inflammatory effect because it is a high flavonoid content.

Previous studies have focussed more on dark chocolate, which contains less fat and sugar than milk chocolate. This study which took place in Denmark did not ask participants to specify which type of chocolate they ate, but it should be noted that milk varieties are more commonly eaten there.

Out of 55,502 participants, aged between 50 and 64, 3346 new cases of atrial fibrillation were diagnosed. Those who ate more chocolate had far lower rates of the condition, when compared with those eating less than one serving a month.

"Despite the fact that most of the chocolate consumed in our sample probably contained relatively low concentrations of the potentially protective ingredients, we still observed a robust statistically significant association.”

Researchers said the study could not establish why women with the lowest risk of heart flutters had just one portion of chocolate a week while for men it was between two and six portions. But they said it was possible that men were protected by the fact they could eat more total calories each day without putting on weight.

Dr Gavin Sandercock, reader in clinical physiology from the University of Essex said, the group eating the least chocolate - less than one portion a month - were far less healthy than all the others, making comparisons misleading.

Victoria Taylor, Senior Dietician at the British Heart Foundation, urged caution in adding chocolate to a daily diet. “Chocolate, or rather, the cocoa it contains, has previously been linked to a variety of cardiovascular benefits and in this case, people who ate more had a lower risk of developing atrial fibrillation.

“However, although this is a large study, it is only observational and so other factors could also be responsible for the effects seen. If you eat chocolate, keep your portions small and go for dark chocolate with the highest cocoa content.”

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