PARIS - More bad news for those battling a sweet tooth: eating chocolate is good for you.
Regular consumption may slash the risk of developing heart disease by a third, according to research published in the British Medical Journal and presented Monday at the European Society of Cardiology's conference in Paris.
Oscar Franco and colleagues from the University of Cambridge sought to put studies linking chocolate and heart health to the test, reviewing existing data to establish whether such a link could reliably be claimed. Turns out it can, according to Franco.
The scientists waded through seven studies involving about 114,000 participants. They found, when they pooled results, that people who consumed the most chocolate carried a 37 percent lower risk of developing heart disease and were 29 percent less likely to suffer a stroke than those who ate the least.
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The findings shouldn't be used as an excuse to go out and binge, Franco said in a telephone interview. Most chocolate found in stores has a high sugar and fat content, and too much of it may lead to weight gain, straining the heart and raising the risk of diabetes, he said.
