At five-year intervals over a 15-year period, 470 men aged over 65 were questioned about their dietary intake of cocoa and received physical examinations. The men were placed in three groups according to their level of cocoa consumption and data about their health was collected. During the study, 314 men died, 152 due to cardiovascular disease.
“The men in the group that consumed the least cocoa were twice as likely to die from a heart attack than those in the group that consumed the most cocoa—at least 4g per day—and the risk remained lower even when other factors such as smoking, physical exercise, and weight were taken into account,” said lead researcher Brian Buijsse, at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. He added: “And men in the study who consumed the most cocoa were less likely to die of any cause.”
The high-cocoa men also had significantly lower blood pressure than the other groups—but Buijsse said that the link between low blood pressure and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease cannot be made from his results. Instead, he says that cocoa-containing antioxidant chemicals, called flavonols, may be the cause.
Source: “Eating Chocolate May Halve Risk of Dying.” Archives of Internal Medicine 166: 411, as cited by NewScientist.com news service 21:00 27 February 2006, Gaia Vince
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