Researchers in Sweden followed over 1000 men and women who had experienced a first-ever heart attack. Besides the usual types of questions asked in health questionnaires, these patients were asked about eating habits, including chocolate consumption.

Three months after their discharge from the hospital, the patients were examined and then they were followed by researchers for the next eight years. According to the study findings, which were published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine, the people who ate the most chocolate had the highest survival rates.

Those people who ate chocolate twice or more a week had a 66% reduced risk of dying from a heart attack than those who didn’t eat chocolate; those who at it once a week had a 44% reduction in their risk of death from heart attack and those who ate it once a month  had a 27% reduction in risk.

This study is by no means definitive as there are many variables that weren’t taken into account, such as mental health. The researchers also didn’t qualify what type of chocolate was eaten and this could be an important factor because milk chocolate and dark chocolate are quite different in properties.

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Post from: Blisstree

Chocolate After Heart Attack = Good Thing

When we think of Christmas we think of cookies, candy and all of the treats that go with the holiday. There are studies that prove that you too, can enjoy Dark Chocolate treats.

If you have high blood pressure, or problems with your heart ask your health care provider about the benefits of Dark Chocolate.

On August 27th, a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that a university in Germany has studied the effects of dark chocolate on lowering blood pressure.

The study shows that eating dark chocolate in moderation tends to lower mild cases of high blood pressure. In the study men and women ages 55-64 ate 100-grams of dark chocolate which contains 480 calories for a period of two weeks. At the end of the study there was a 2-point drop in the diastolic blood pressure and 5-points in the systolic pressure.

This in no way says that you can eat all of the dark chocolate you want. You will have to cut calories in other areas.

Dark chocolate contains (Antioxidants) that absorb free radicals and destructive molecules that are found in heart disease and high blood pressure patents.

Milk chocolate does not offer the same absorption effects as dark chocolate. The study shows that drinking milk while eating dark chocolate causes the same interference

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/298/1/49

Post from: Blisstree

Heart Healthy Dark Chocolate