Brace yourselves, cause this is definitely the news all of those who have a sweet tooth have been waiting all along: chocolate might just be really good for your heart.
The Heart journal has recently published a new research study showing that polyphenols – the basis of all chocolates and the active ingredients in cocoa beans – have the potential of lowering cardiovascular risks for the people who eat chocolate and other cocoa products.
According to the new study results, chocolate lovers have the green light in sipping their hot cups of the brewed product, as the health benefits that are associated with it are rather convincing. Researchers suggest there is more to chocolate than just the tasty flavor it has on the palates.
Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, agrees with the researchers on this study that polyphenols are the main reason why cardiovascular events and strokes rates are lowered in a person who consumes chocolate on a regular basis.
He added that studying the effects of polyphenols showed they have a positive influence on the health of the consumer’s blood vessels. In order to reach this conclusion, researchers monitored more than 20,000 people on a follow-up period of 12 years.
Their rates and frequency of eating chocolate – and other cocoa products – were tracked so as to determine how significant – if any – are the health benefits that derive from them.
According to a report in the Harvard Health Blog wrote by Howard LeWine, there was a 5.4 percent difference between the group who didn’t consume chocolate and those who did: 12 percent of those eating chocolate in the 12 years of study developed or died of cardiovascular disease, while 17.4 percent of non-consumers dealt with heart problems or died of it.
However, not all researchers commend the health benefits of consuming cocoa products. Jo Ann Manson of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, believes the cause-and-effect correlation between cocoa and lower heart disease events needs more research for more accurate conclusions.
Manson suggested this could be done by stripping away the milk, sugar, fats and calories from chocolates, and transform the main cocoa compounds into pills. This way, researchers would be able to measure any potential health benefits.
But either way, if you have your heart broken, remember that chocolate might just be the help you need. For real this time.
Image Source: Peters Pralinen