Recent study confirms: Chocolate may help prevent stroke

Researchers are convinced that eating chocolate can help improve the health of the heart ..

14:56 01 September 2012

Researchers and the Stroke Association have recently conducted an extensive study which confirms chocolate can indeed help prevent a stroke.

 

The study, which involved following more than 37,000 Swedish men, confirms that those men who were regularly eating chocolate are 17% less likely to suffer from a stroke. 

 

However, the study doesn’t encourage too much chocolate intake. It suggests those eating 63g (2.2oz) of chocolate (about one bar) per week are less prone to strokes compared to non-chocolate lovers. 

 

Proffessor Susanna Larsson, one of the researchers from Karolinska Institute in Sweden, told the BBC: “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.

 

“It's also possible that flavonoids in chocolate may decrease blood concentrations of bad cholesterol and reduce blood pressure.”

 

Doctor Clare Walton, from the Stroke Association,told the BBC that aside from this study, there has been other research done which confirms the health benefits of chocolate.

 

However, she warned that in order for the consuming public to reduce the risk of stroke, chocolate must be eaten as part of a balanced, healthy diet.

 

She also reiterated that, although studies such as this one exist, eating chocolate is not an alternative to eating healthy food and having regular exercise. 

 

The study was recently published in journal Neurology.