U.S. researchers are carrying out a study to look into the health benefits of chocolate, specifically to understand whether nutrients in dark chocolate could help prevent heart attacks and strokes. It's common knowledge that chocolate is good for the soul, but these studies could reveal that it's good for the heart as well.
The study is being sponsored by the National Hearth, Lung and Blood Institute and Mars Inc., makers of such chocolate products as M & Ms, Snickers and Milky Way. It aims to find out whether the health benefits of chocolate can be enjoyed without the sugar and fat found in most chocolates. 18,000 men and women across the U.S. will be enrolled in the study.
The research will form the first large-scale test of cocoa flavanols, naturally occurring compounds that are only found in the cocoa bean, a core ingredient in chocolate. Previous studies have suggested that cocoa flavanols improve blood pressure, cholesterol, artery health and other heart-related health factors.
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