How to eat chocolate to reduce the risk of heart failure?
Researchers believe that natural compounds in chocolate called flavonoids promote blood vessel health and help reduce inflammation.
Heart failure affects more than 900,000 people in the UK – and almost a third die within a year of diagnosis.
But they urge moderation - Eating chocolate is only fine if you eat it occasionally, because the sugar and fat mean eating it regularly can do more harm than good.
People who ate chocolate every day saw their risk of heart failure increase by 17%. Meanwhile, scientists found moderate eating – up to three bars of chocolate a month – reduced the risk of heart failure by 13%.
“I believe that chocolate is an important dietary source of flavonoids that help reduce inflammation and increase good cholesterol,” said Dr. Chayakrit Krittanawong, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
“Most importantly, flavonoids can increase nitric oxide [a gas that dilates blood vessels and increases circulation].
However, chocolate can be high in saturated fat. Therefore, moderate consumption is recommended at this time.” The research, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich, reviewed five studies involving more than 575,000 people.
Dr. Krittanawong believes dark chocolate is best, because it contains the most flavonoids and the least sugar.
But he added: “To make firm recommendations, we would need randomised clinical trials comparing dark chocolate and non-dark chocolate groups.” Victoria Taylor, senior nutritionist at the British Heart Foundation, said cocoa was linked to a variety of health benefits.
“This large-scale analysis suggests that moderate chocolate consumption may protect against heart failure, but too much may be harmful.
“If you have a sweet tooth, only indulge occasionally and choose dark chocolate with the highest cocoa content.”
A previous study by the universities of Aberdeen, Manchester, Cambridge and East Anglia found that people who regularly ate chocolate were 11% less likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular problems.
But critics have always pointed out that these studies may be biased because people at high risk of heart disease are more likely to avoid eating chocolate – so those who regularly eat chocolate may be inherently healthier.
