A chocolate or two a day, just what the doctor ordered!

Nov 16 2006

A recent study has news that chocolate lovers will be overjoyed to hear, it seems that chocolate is good for the heart!

According to researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health in the U.S. eating a few squares every day can improve the health of your heart.

The researchers say a chemical in cocoa beans produces a similar biochemical effect to aspirin and can reduce the likelihood of blood clotting.

They have published the results of what is believed to be the first biochemical analysis to explain why eating a small amount every day can almost halve the risk of heart attack in some men and women by decreasing the tendency of platelets to clot in narrow blood vessels.

The scientists made the discovery almost by accident when people were disqualified from a larger study looking at the effects of aspirin on blood platelets.

The Genetic Study of Aspirin Responsiveness (GeneSTAR) was conducted at Johns Hopkins University between June 2004 and November 2005 and involved more than 500 men and 700 women participants nationwide.

The 139 'offending chocoholics' had been told to stop indulging in a number of foods known to affect platelet activity, including chocolate, but could not break their habit.

The 'offenders' had no histories of heart problems, such as a heart attack, but all were considered to be at a slightly increased risk of heart disease because of family history.

Fifty per cent of women participants were postmenopausal.

Previous research has also suggested that chocolate is good for the heart, can lower blood pressure and has other beneficial effects on blood flow.

The 'chocoholics' gave the Johns Hopkins team an opportunity to examine why this might be by way of a biochemical analysis.

They carried out tests comparing how long it took platelets taken from the 'chocoholics' and others who had not eaten chocolate to clump together when they were run through a mechanical blood vessel system.

Platelets from those who stayed away from chocolate clotted faster, at 123 seconds, compared with 130 seconds for the chocolate group.

Researcher Professor Diane Becker says the chocolate 'offenders' showed that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to aspirin in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack.

Professor Becker says two tablespoons of dark chocolate a day was enough to have a beneficial effect.

It is believed that compounds called flavonoids, in which chocolate is rich, may be the key ingredient.