Chocolate: The New Heart Medicine

A study, published online this week and reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association, finds that chocolate protects women from heart failure.  The nine-year study, conducted among 31,823 Swedish women, looked at the relationship between the amount of high-quality (70% cocoa) dark chocolate the eaten and the risk of heart failure.  The researchers found that women who ate an average of one to three servings per month had a 26 per cent lower risk of developing heart failure Those who had one to two servings of the high-quality chocolate per week had a 32 per cent lower risk  during the study period.

Chocolate is a high-concentration source of flavanoids, a Polyphenol.  Studies have already shown that the health benefits flavanoids in chocolate include:

• Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease by significantly reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
• Increased antioxidant capacity of the body.  Antioxidants are believed to help the body’s cells resist damage caused by free radicals that are formed by normal bodily processes such as breathing and from environmental contaminants like cigarette smoke.  
• Improved blood flow via increased production of nitric oxide.  Nitric Oxide increased dilation and inhibits platelet aggregation.
• Positive influence on metabolic function
• Lower Cholesterol – Reduced LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.

Now comes a study that shows a lower risk of heart failure in women.  It should be emphasized that the chocolate referenced in the studies is high-quality, and, therefore, more expensive, chocolate, such as Amano and Guittard, that has at least 70% cocoa.  Still, it is hard to think of a finer, and tastier, preventative medicine.