Eating chocolate on a regular basis can save your life. According to a recent study by Dutch researchers, men who ate the most cocoa had a 50 percent less chance of dying of disease than those who did not consume cocoa regularly. The results of the study were published in the most recent issue of the journal 'Archives of Internal Medicine.'
While cocoa is known to lower blood pressure, that was not the key to its help in preventing disease the study found. Instead, the study credited antioxidants and flavanols found in cocoa which boost the functioning of cells that line blood vessels and thereby lessen the risks from cholesterol and other chemicals that can cause heart attacks, cancer and lung diseases.
The study examined 470 older men between the ages of 65 and 84 over a 15-year period. One-third of the men did not eat any cocoa while the group that consumed the most chocolate ate an average of 4.2 grams per day. A total of 314 of the men studied died between 1985 and 2000. However, those who ate the most cocoa were 50 percent less likely to die than the others.
The lead author of the report, Brian Buijsse of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, was pleased with the study but said additional research was necessary.
'It's way too early to make recommendations about whether people should eat more cocoa or chocolate,' Buijsse admitted.
For one thing, no women or younger people were involved in the study.
'If you look at the other interventional studies, you see the same effects in men and women, younger people and older people. It may be the findings are generalizable to women, but you never know,' Buijsse explained.
For now, chocolate lovers everywhere have yet another reason to smile.
