Dark chocolate is good for your heart

It has long been suggested that dark chocolate is good for your heart.

It has long been suggested that dark chocolate is good for your heart.

Published May 2, 2012

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London - It has long been suggested that dark chocolate is good for your heart.

Now a study has confirmed that eating it in moderate quantities does indeed lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Researchers at San Diego State University in the US asked 31 people to eat a 50g bar of either regular dark chocolate, dark chocolate that had been overheated, or white chocolate, for 15 days.

When compared to the white chocolate group, those eating either form of dark chocolate were later found to have lower blood glucose and lower levels of ‘bad’ blood lipids.

The researchers concluded that dark chocolate may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by improving blood glucose levels and lipid profiles.

However, they warned that although habitual dark chocolate consumption may benefit health by reducing the risk of heart disease, it must be eaten in moderation because it can easily increase daily amounts of saturated fat and calories.

A spokesman for the research team said: “We had great compliance with our study subjects because everybody wanted to eat chocolate.

“We actually had to tell them not to eat more than 50g a day.”

The results will be presented at the Experimental Biology 2012 meeting in San Diego. - Daily Mail

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