Researchers have found that eating dark chocolate in moderation helps the heart by bringing down the risk of atherosclerosis, which is the thickening and hardening of arteries.
Dark chocolate can protect the heart from diseases in two ways, according to VOA. The snack can restore flexibility to the arteries and prevent white blood cells from sticking to the insides of blood vessel walls. Both of these conditions can cause heart disease by leading to the formation of plaque, which blocks arteries.
The discovery was made by a team including Prof. Diederik Esser of the Top Institute Food and Nutrition and the Division of Human Nutrition at Wageningen University, both from the Netherlands, Medical News Today reported. The team published the study in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.
The study includes two periods of four weeks in which 44 men, who were middle-aged and overweight, ate 70 grams of both dark and milk chocolate every day, according to VOA.
According to Medical News Today, results from the study include a decrease in flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and augmentation index (AIX) in both groups. Both groups also showed a decrease in plasma sICAM1 and sICAM3, leukocyte (white blood cell) count, and leukocyte adhesion marker expression.
The organic compound flavanol is the substance in chocolate that is healthy for the heart, and is also found in vegetables, green tea and fruits, VOA reported. Editor-in-chief of the FASEB Journal Gerald Weissmann said researchers found that flavanol plays a role in making people prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate.
"In this controlled study, the first time it's ever been done, they gave the same amount of flavanol in dark chocolate and regular chocolate," Weissmann said. "And lo and behold, the men didn't have different amounts of flavanols in the diet. But they ate more of the dark chocolate one because they liked it better."
Prof. Esser also commented on the impact of flavanol, Medical News Today reported.
"We provide a more complete picture of the impact of chocolate consumption in vascular health and show that increasing flavanol content has no added effect on vascular health," Esser said. "However, this increased flavanol content clearly affected taste and thereby the motivation to eat these chocolates. So the darkside of chocolate is a healthy one."
Weissmann said these findings could lead to new treatments that provide the same benefits as eating dark chocolate, Medical News Today reported. Weissmann said, however, the treatments would contain "better and more consistent results."
"Until the 'dark chocolate drug' is developed, however, we'll just have to make do with what nature has given us," Weissman said.
