The scientific name for chocolate, Theobroma cacao, literally means the "food of the gods." Maybe that should be amended to "food of the goddesses," since it is a rare woman who doesn't swoon over chocolate. Few among us have not indulged in a little chocolate therapy to help mend a broken heart or get over a bad day at the office. Now scientists are discovering that dark chocolate helps our hearts in many unexpected ways. For example, it has important anti-oxidant effects that may help protect our arteries against the damage inflicted by bad (LDL) cholesterol. It may raise our HDL (good) cholesterol slightly, reduce our chances of developing harmful blood clots, and might even lower blood pressure a bit.
This month, hot off the presses, comes a study authored by three very smart women (and one smart man) from Harvard Medical School and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, evaluating the effects of chocolate on the incidence of congestive heart failure in Swedish women. Over 30,000 women filled out diet questionnaires at baseline; they were monitored for health issues over the next 9 years. The verdict? Moderate amounts of chocolate (1-2 one-ounce servings per week) was associated with a 25% lower risk for congestive heart failure. Any more than that did not have the same protective effect.
In this study, milk chocolate accounted for most of the chocolate consumed. Milk chocolate has much less of the antioxidant flavonoids that are so powerful in dark chocolate. It also tends to have more saturated fat. It would be interesting to know how dark chocolate would compare. Most likely, it would have come out ahead. Nevertheless, this is great news for chocolate lovers, although not a license to overindulge. Keep your weekly chocolate habit to a total of 1-2 ounces, and your chocolate therapy may help to keep you happy and healthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment