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Ladies, once again we have been right all along: chocolate is good for you.
According to Nutrition Blog, an article published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology says new research shows health benefits from eating more chocolate.
The study followed more than 33,000 Swedish women between the ages of 49 and 83, with no medical history of stroke, heart disease, cancer or diabetes. Participants completed surveys containing more than 350 dietary and lifestyle questions.
The results show that women with – you guessed it – the highest chocolate consumption, on average at least two candy bars per week, were 20 percent less likely to have a stroke.
Researcher Susanna Larsson, an associate professor in nutritional epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, explains the outcome: "Cocoa contains flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties and can suppress oxidation of low-density lipoprotein ['bad' cholesterol] which can cause cardiovascular disease [including stroke]."
Score one for chocolate – and for the ladies who love it.
I love the science behind healthy chocolate. The most important thing to consider when eating dark chocolate is how the cocoa beans are processed. Commercial processing destroys most of the fragile antioxidants. I have found a healthy chocolate that is not candy, but the most advanced health product you can buy. It is raw, unprocessed cacao that eliminates the processed sugars, bad fats and caffeine and tastes so decadent and delicious you think you are doing something wrong! There is a great article on the difference between "good" chocolate and "bad" chocolate at cocoa101blog.com.