It seems almost too good to be true -- eating "high levels" of chocolate could help lower the risk of developing heart disease, a new study from Cambridge University has found.
The study, published Monday on the British Medical Journal's website, analyzed the results of seven studies, comparing the group that consumed the most chocolate with the group that consumed the least chocolate in each study. More than 100,000 participants were involved, both with and without existing heart disease.
For five of the studies, there was a link between higher chocolate consumption and a lower risk of developing heart disease.
The "highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke compared with lowest levels," the study found.
The studies examined didn't differentiate between dark or milk chocolate and included consumption of chocolate bars, drinks, biscuits and desserts. And the authors caution that their findings shouldn't be taken as a carte blanche to eat all chocolate all the time -- cheaper, commercially available chocolate tends to be high in calories and eating too much of it could lead to weight gain, diabetes and heart disease.
The authors presented their findings to the European Society of Cardiology in Paris Monday morning.
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