Chowing Down on Chocolate Can Decrease Your Risk of Having a Stroke?

Okay ladies, pass us a bar of choccie! Some new research has revealed that regularly chowing down on a few squares of the good stuff can actually decrease our risk of having a stroke. Score, right?

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that men who eat chocolate on a regular basis were 17 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke over ten years than men who ate none.

What has a male-specific study got to do with us female folk? Well, according to Susanna Larsson, the lead researcher, she conducted a similar study last year that found that the results were practically the same for women. Whoop!

“The beneficial effect of chocolate consumption on stroke may be related to the flavonoids in chocolate,” said Dr Larsson.

“Flavonoids in chocolate appear to be protective against cardiovascular disease through antioxidant, anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory properties,” she added.

Regularly eating chocolate? Yeah, we think we could manage that...

However despite the good news that chocolate could protect you against a stroke, the researchers were quick to warn about the high sugar, fat and calorie content associated with it.

“Because chocolate is high in sugar, saturated fat, and calories, it should be consumed in moderation,” wrote the researchers in their paper, which was published in the noted journal Neurology.

However, other researchers have claimed that none of the studies to day (including Dr Larsson’s) have proved that chocolate is the sole reason for the lower stroke risk.

“It’s very important for people to take the news on chocolate with a grain of salt,” said Richard Libman, the vice chair of neurology at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute in Manhasset, New York.

“You can’t start advising people to eat chocolate based on this. Think of the negative effects that could result, like obesity and type 2 diabetes,” he added.

Right. So we can eat a small bit of chocolate on a regular basis, as long as we’re careful not to overdo it? It still sounds good to us!