A little dark chocolate, roughly 7 grams per day, has been suggested to be the ideal amount eaten to help protect the heart. Yummy! But wait a minute: How much chocolate is that?
In your ordinary candy bar there are 100 grams. That means that to get the benefit, you can gorge on approximately... drum roll please... one half of a candy bar a week. Humph.
The Research Laboratories of the Catholic University in Campobasso, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute of Milan, conducted a study with over 20,000 participants that concentrated on “the complex mechanism of inflammation and subsequent cardiovascular disease.”
Chocolate is a rich antioxidant source, so the researchers thought chocolate consumption might have a positive effect on inflammation. Participants that consumed moderate amounts of dark chocolate regularly had significantly lower levels of a key protein that the researchers were looking for to measure the positive effect. In fact, researchers measured a 17% reduction in participants eating dark chocolate—this is enough of a reduction to lower the risk of heart disease by one third in women and one fourth in men.
Of course, the amount of chocolate is imperative to the benefit—again, only about 7 grams. The amount is equal to a small square of chocolate 2 or 3 times a week—more than this reduces the positive influence.
The study states that less than half a bar of dark chocolate consumed during the week may be part of a healthy habit. What about the milk chocolate? "Previous studies have demonstrated that milk interferes with the absorption of polyphenols. That is why our study considered just the dark chocolate.”
Less is more, and dark chocolate is what your looking for!
Catholic University (2008, September 24). Dark Chocolate: Half A Bar Per Week May Keep
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