Good news for chocolate lovers. Research indicates that regular chocolate consumption may decrease the risk of one developing atrial fibrillation or heart rhythm irregularity, which is commonly known as heart flutter.
The benefits of eating chocolate were found in both men and women. However, the associations were the greatest in women who consumed one weekly serving of chocolate, compared to two to six weekly servings for males.
How Was The Chocolate Benefit Study Conducted?
The researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health considered data from 55,502 people in Denmark, where the study was conducted. This population included 29,100 women and 26,400 men aged between 50 and 64, who took part in the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study.
Participants were asked to provide information about their weekly chocolate consumption. However, they did not have to detail what kind of chocolate they consumed. Most Danish chocolates are milk ones and have minimum 30 percent cocoa solids. Researchers also defined one serving as 30 ounce of the product.
The researchers also noted other details of each participant like diet, heart disease risk, and lifestyle —such as smoking — before the study's commencement. The researchers learned that people who consumed more chocolate were more educated than those consuming it in lesser quantities.
How Chocolate Consumption Benefits The Heart
The study monitored the participants for 13.5 years, during which 3,346 atrial fibrillation cases occurred among the subjects. It was found that the rate was 10 percent lesser for people consuming one to three chocolate servings per month vis-à-vis those who had less than one serving each month.
The same benefits were also noted in other levels of chocolate consumption. For instance, heart flutter risk decreased by 17 percent in people consuming one chocolate serving per week. The risk was lowered by 20 percent in people who consumed two to six chocolate servings each week. Subjects who consumed one chocolate serving each day experienced a 14 percent lower risk of atrial fibrillation.
For women, one weekly chocolate serving lowered the risk by 21 percent. In men, two to six weekly servings decreased the risk by as much as 23 percent.
"Despite the fact that most of the chocolate consumed in our sample probably contained relatively low concentrations of the potentially protective ingredients, we still observed a robust statistically significant association," the researchers noted.
However, researchers indicated that while dark chocolate consumption may be healthy, most commercial chocolates are milk based and contain a lot of sugar and added flavoring. These added ingredients are harmful for the heart and the body.
Doctors and health officials also stated that the chocolate study in Denmark did not account for other atrial fibrillation risk factors such as sleep apnea and kidney disorders. The study also noted the diagnosed cases of heart flutter, which raises the question whether chocolates reduce the onset of the disease or just suppresses the symptoms.
The study's results were published in the journal Heart on Tuesday, May 23.
