Good news to all chocolate lovers: Recent studies have provided more reasons to eat more, saying that the sweet treat is good for the heart.
A research published in the BMJ journal Heart indicated that those who constantly consume chocolate, including those who eat about two standard candy bars a day, are safer from cardiovascular diseases.
The people are "11% less likely than those who eat little to no chocolate to have heart attacks and strokes, and 25% less likely to die of cardiovascular disease," according to a report.
The long-running British study that conducted the report has traced almost 21,000 adults all over England, particularly around Norfolk for approximately 12 years. The researchers conducted frequent surveys on the adults' consumption habits, lifestyles, and health.
The recorded highest chocolate-consuming group had lower rates of heart attack and stroke. Furthermore, they had an average of lower body-mass indexes, lower systolic blood pressure and inflammation, lower rates of diabetes, and higher tendencies to engage in exercise.
However, as good as the news is for chocolate lovers, there are still specialists and doctors who have criticized the British study.
Dr. Farzaneh Aghdassi Sorond of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston says that the observational study needs further investigations and trials, while its contents do not answer deeper probes, such as: "Is it chocolate, or something else that comes with a chocolate-eating life, that makes people healthier? And if it is chocolate, what is it specifically about this long-consumed bean that confers better health?"
Furthermore, Sorond claims that the study cannot directly link the habit of eating chocolate and having a better health because other factors may be involved. Thus, the doctor disproves the cause-and-effect relationship the study is showing--her warning may or may not result a cautionary tale for chocolate fans.
"Causality is the issue that remains unanswered and that's going to have to be explored through clinical trials and interventions," she said.
