BEIJING, Dec. 20 -- Eating a few squares of dark chocolate may help stave off heart disease, a report published Monday in the journal Heart has concluded.
A team of Swiss researchers studied a group of 25 smokers - chosen because smokers are particularly prone to heart disease. The volunteers were told to avoid drinking tea or wine and eating things like onions, apples and cabbage, which all have an antioxidant effect.
The scientists gave them chocolate and measured their blood flow and platelet activity. After two hours, blood flow "significantly improved" among those who had the dark chocolate and this effect lasted for about eight hours. There was no recorded effect among those who ate the white chocolate.
"Dark chocolate has a much higher polyphenol [a group of antioxidants] content per gramme than do other antioxidant-rich foods, such as red wine, tea and berries," the report said.
"Therefore, only a small daily treat of dark chocolate may substantially increase the amount of antioxidant intake and beneficially effect vascular health."
However, the report admitted that eating dark chocolate was still "a matter of debate".
The report noted: "Chocolate may adversely affect cardiovascular risk because of its effects on glucose, lipids and body weight or potentially favour cardiovascular health through the antioxidative effects of chocolate ingredients, such as flavinoids, which are present in dark but not white chocolate." Enditem
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