Study: Chocolate Cuts Stroke Risk

Leave it to the Aussies to find an upbeat approach to the rather gloomy problem of atherosclerotic vascular disease--the hardening and narrowing of the arteries that can lead to stroke and heart failure. A group of researchers at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, Western Australia ingenuously piggybacked their study of chocolate's effect on cardiovascular disease onto a study of calcium supplements in 1,216 older women followed for nine and a half years (a long time in the world of science).A couple of squares a week might help prevent a stroke.

What they found was really quite remarkable: the risk of stroke and heart failure (and accumulation of plaque in the arteries) was significantly reduced by eating a small quantity (1-5 grams or a small square) of chocolate containing between 15% and 50% cocoa just once per week. And one of the best things about this study, published in the venerable Archives of Internal Medicine, is it was not financed by a chocolate company.

Cocoa is a rich source of flavonoids, the plant antioxidants associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. In previous studies, consuming an average 4.2 grams (a small square) of chocolate per day resulted in a 50% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. But all of the previous data was from short term studies that looked at overall cardiovascular risk. The Austrialian group had a hunch that chocolate was somehow improving hardening of the arteries, and so they took a look see.

Compared with women who rarely consumed chocolate, those who consumed 1 to 5 grams of chocolate daily or once per week had a significantly lower (24%) risk of hospitalization or death due to stroke and heart failure. Even more astonishing, women who frequently consumed chocolate also had a significantly lower prevalence of plaque in their arteries compared to women who consumed it rarely. 

There was almost no difference in risk reduction between women who ate chocolate daily and those who ate it weekly, so cocoa fat consumption doesn't have to skyrocket. And what a relief to see participants experienced benefits when eating lower cocoa concentrations, without having to eat extreme, dark chocolate (the 65%+ versions usually touted by nutrition experts). The authors stress that further research to confirm the findings is warranted.

But it looks like one former vice is morphing into a potentially life-saving necessity.