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Chocoholics take heart

15 September 2009: Eating chocolate reduces the risk of a heart attack, scientists find.

 

People who have had a heart attack and eat chocolate are less likely to die of another heart attack, Swedish research has shown. However, Bupa International’s medical director, Dr Sneh Khemka, cautioned that the research has a long way to go before a direct link between eating chocolate and reducing your risk of heart attack can be established.

Scientists asked almost 1,200 people who had been in hospital after a heart attack how much chocolate they had eaten over the past year. The researchers then followed up the people for eight years to see if they had any more heart attacks.

When lifestyle factors, such as age, sex, obesity, education, physical activity and diabetes, were taken into account, the people who ate chocolate were less likely to die from a second heart attack. And the more chocolate they ate, the lower their risk was.

However, Dr Khemka cautioned: “The findings of this study are limited because the type of chocolate was not analysed. Before we all go off and stuff ourselves with chocolate, we need to establish the exact mechanism by which chocolate offers this seemingly protective effect.

“Heart attacks are caused by many factors and eating chocolate alone is very unlikely to prevent them. The risks from eating a poor diet and obesity outweigh any benefit of eating chocolate that we are currently know about.”

Key facts

  • Chocolate contains flavonoids, which are anti-oxidants. Flavonoids have been shown to lower blood pressure.

You're more likely to have a heart attack if you:

  • smoke
  • have a family history of heart disease
  • lead an inactive lifestyle (do less than 30 minutes physical activity per day, on most days)
  • have diabetes
  • are overweight or obese
  • have high blood pressure
  • have high blood cholesterol

To keep your heart healthy and reduce the risk of heart problems, you should:

  • stop smoking
  • lose excess weight
  • take regular exercise
  • eat a healthy balanced diet, low in fat and high in fibre
     

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