A study of middle aged and elderly women who consumed a small amount of dark chocolate once or twice a week found to lower their risk of heart failure. It was found that elderly women who consumed chocolate twice a week slash their risk of developing heart failure by third but those consumed it daily did not get benefit.
The team of researchers from the American Heart Association observed more than thirty-two thousand Swedish middle aged and elderly women to find the association between the amounts of high quality chocolate the women consumed and the risk of heart failure. They found that women who consumed an average of two serving had thirty-two percent lower risk of heart failure.
Women who consumed one to three serving per month had twenty-six percent lower risk but those who ate chocolate every day did not appear to reduce their risk of heart failure at all. The lack of positive effects among women who ate chocolate daily was possibly due to consumption of additional calories.
Excessive consumption of chocolate is unhealthy as it is a relatively calorie-dense food and large amount of it raise your risk of weight gain. But at the same time chocolate also contains high concentration of composited known as flavonoids that can lower blood pressure and protect against heart diseases, earlier studies have found.
The quality of chocolate eaten by the women had higher concentration of cocoa content. Higher cocoa content is linked to greater heart benefits.This is for the first time that long-term effects related specifically to heart failure have been shown, said Dr Murray Mittleman, study leader and director of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston.
He added, you cannot ignore that chocolate is a comparatively calorie-dense food and large amounts of habitual consumption is going to raise your risks for weight gain. But if you are going to have a treat, dark chocolate is probably a good choice, as long as it is in moderation.