According to this new study eating a standard chocolate bar as regularly as once a week could lower a man's risk of having a stroke later in life by as much as 17%. The study even suggests that eating chocolate on an even more regular basis could reduce the risk further.
Although previous studies have discovered links between eating small amounts of good quality dark chocolate and protection against cardiovascular diseases, the latest study by Susanna Larsson of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, was the first to specifically seek out links between the consumption of chocolate and the likelihood of developing a stroke.
Larsson evaluated food questionnaires given to 37,103 Swedish men aged between 49 and 75, which asked them, amongst other things, how often they ate chocolate over a period of the last ten years. By analysing hospital records, she was able to correlate levels of chocolate consumption in these men with cases of strokes.
'High chocolate consumption was associated with a lower risk of stroke' Larsson wrote in the latest edition of 'Neurology', the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Larsson found that men who ate the most chocolate, on average of 63 grams a week, had a 17% lower risk of stroke compared with those who had none. Intriguingly the correlation did not seem to change too much against different types of stroke.
Larsson ratified her findings through the undertaking of a meta-analysis of five other studies, which contained an overall total of 4,260 cases of stroke across Europe and the United States. Similarly she found the risk of stroke for individuals in the highest category of chocolate consumption stood at 19% lower as compared with non-chocolate eaters.
Before we all get to excited though, Larsson cautioned that any firm recommendations about chocolate consumption could not be given until further studies have confirmed her findings.
'Because chocolate is high in sugar, saturated fat and calories, it should be consumed in moderation' she warned.
Article posted by Spencer Samaroo, Managing Director, Moo-Lolly-Bar. A true chocoholic, he also is chief editor of I Love USA Candy.
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