by Shaina Fimbel
Stockholm, Sweden—With Halloween and candy season right around the
corner, for once we might be encouraging men to indulge. A recent study in the American Academy of Neurology, by Susanna C. Larsson with the
Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, shows that men who consume more chocolate
may have lower risks of stroke.
The study followed 37,103 Swedish
men for a period of ten years. During
this time the men were given food-frequency questionnaires to determine how
much and how often they were consuming chocolate. Researchers found that there were 1,995
incidences of stroke throughout the duration of the study.
Researchers conclude that the men
who eat the most chocolate per week, about one-third of a cup (63 grams), have
a lower risk of having a stroke when compared to men who did not eat this
treat. In fact, the risk was lowered
about 17 percent. Similar research
analyzed the results from 5 studies involving 4,260 incidences of stroke. In this case, the highest consumers of
chocolate had a 19 percent decrease in risk of stroke than non-chocolate
eaters. It was found that for about every quarter cup (50 grams) of
chocolate a man added to his diet each week, his risk was reduced by about 14
percent.
For many years dark chocolate has
been associated with a healthy heart, but what about its counterpart milk
chocolate? Larsson said, “about 90
percent of the chocolate intake in Sweden, including what was consumed during
our study, is milk chocolate.” The
health benefits of these chocolates may be traced back to the presence of
flavonoids. Flavonoids are the
substances in plants that often give it color, but they are found to work as
antioxidants and assist with anti-clotting and anti-inflammation in the body.
According to this research, a man with a sweet tooth may
actually be reducing his chance of stroke by treating himself to a chocolate
bar this Halloween season.
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