Dark-ChocolateThe Results Are In
Dark-Chocolate ~ Natures Health Foods
Chocolate 'offenders' teach science sweet lesson about heart health
Perhaps being a "chocoholic" isn't such a bad thing after all, at least when it comes to your heart.
It turns out that some chocolate aficionados taking part in a study investigating blood platelet clumping couldn't stick to a promise to temporarily give up their sweet of choice and they inadvertently ended up doing medical science a favour.
Their dietary offence led researchers to uncover what may be the first biochemical explanation underlying the confection's effect in preventing cardiovascular disease.
Just a few squares of dark-chocolate a day can cut the risk of dying from a heart attack almost in half.
"What these chocolate 'offenders' taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to Aspirin (ASA) in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack," lead author Diane Becker of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said in a statement.
That doesn't mean that people should start indulging in lots of chocolate candy, which often contains unhealthy quantities of sugar, butter and cream, stressed Becker, who presented the study findings Tuesday at the American Heart Association's annual scientific sessions in Chicago.
But as little as 30 millilitres (two tablespoons) a day of dark-chocolate, made from the dried extract of roasted cocoa beans and considered the purest form, could have a heart-healthy effect.
Dark-chocolate is chock full with flavonoids, which have long been known to lower blood pressure and have other beneficial effects on blood flow.
The study identified the effects of typical doses of chocolate found in ordinary foods, unlike previous studies that found decreased platelet activity only at super doses of flavonoids equivalent to eating kilograms of chocolate a day.
Eating a little bit of dark-chocolate or having a drink of hot cocoa as part of a regular diet is probably good for personal health, so long as people don't eat too much of it and certainly too much of the kind with lots of butter and sugar.
The Genetic Study of Aspirin Responsiveness (GeneSTAR), conducted at Johns Hopkins between June 2004 and November 2005, began by enrolling more than 500 men and 700 women, aged 21 to 80, to examine the effects of ASA on blood platelets.
Prior to starting an ASA regimen, participants were to stay on a strict program of exercise and to refrain from smoking or using foods and drinks known to affect platelet activity, including caffeine-containing drinks, wine, grapefruit juice and chocolate.
When 139 participants were disqualified for the main study after admitting to eating chocolate, the researchers decided to analyze their blood to determine chocolate's effect on platelets.
When platelet samples from both compliers and non-compliers were analyzed, researchers found that the chocolate lovers' platelets were less reactive, taking on average 130 seconds to clog up a mechanical blood vessel system.
Platelets from those who avoided chocolate clotted faster, at 123 seconds.
A second test, designed to detect waste products from platelet activity in urine, showed that chocolate eaters had significantly lower activity and waste products on average compared with chocolate abstainers.
In all, more than 200 different tests of platelet reactivity were performed.
Although none of the chocolate offenders had previous heart problems, all had a slightly increased risk of heart disease because of family history.
"These results really bring home the point that a modest dietary practice can have a huge impact on blood and potentially on the health of people at a mildly elevated risk of heart disease," said study co-author Dr. Nauder Faraday.
"But we have to be careful to emphasize that one single healthy dietary practice cannot be taken alone, but must be balanced with exercise and other healthy lifestyle practices that impact the heart."
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