Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS.
In 2001 Americans consumed 3 billion pounds of chocolate, totaling $13.1 billion in sales (1), ranking Americans tenth in world consumption (11.7 pounds/person/year) (2), with Switzerland being #1 in per capita chocolate consumption (22.36 pounds/person/year) (1).
Now two studies presented at the 2010 American Academy of Neurology (3) has found that chocolate may play a role in heart health regarding stroke. Stroke is the third largest cause of death, ranking behind heart disease and all forms of cancer, stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States, killing 150,074 people in 2004 (4) and costs our healthcare system $43 billion per year (5). The American Stroke Association has listed a number of risk factors for stroke including Age (stroke risk doubles each decade of life after the age of 55), gender (stroke is more common in men), and cigarette smoking (6).
In the first study presented at the conference, researchers found that 44,489 people who ate one serving of chocolate per week were 22% less likely to have a stroke than people who ate no chocolate. The second study found that 1,169 people who ate 50 grams of chocolate once a week were 46% less likely to die following a stroke than people who did not eat chocolate.
But because they found only one additional relevant study in their search of all the available research which found no link between eating chocolate and risk of stroke or death, the researchers cautioned that more research is warranted to further confirm any link between chocolate and heart health.
Source: “Can Chocolate Help Prevent Strokes” posted February 11, 2010 on the American Academy of Neurology Website.
Posted July 12, 2010.
References:
- “Chocolate Consumption” – posted on the Simon Fraser University website.
- See Broward University website.
- “Can Chocolate Help Prevent Strokes?” – posted on the American Academy of Neurology website.
- “Stroke Statistics” – posted on the American Heart Association website.
- “Stroke Statistics” – posted on the University Hospital website.
- “Stroke Risk Factors” – posted on the Stroke Association website.
