Eating Chocolate Can Halve Risk of Death By Heart Disease, Says Study

By IAN JOHNSTON SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT

EATING cocoa can help elderly people cut their risk of dying from heart disease by as much as 50 per cent, Dutch scientists have found.

They added that consuming cocoa in a range of forms – in dark or milk chocolate, biscuits, spreads, mousses, drinks and “chocolate confetti” – also appeared to cut the risk of death overall and could even help guard against some cancers.

Their findings come as a result of analysing information about the health and diet of a group of several hundred elderly Dutch men, which was collected over 15 years.

A separate study using the same group of men aged 65 to 84, from the town of Zutphen in the Netherlands, found that optimism also reduced the risk of dying of a heart attack or stroke by 50 per cent.

Brian Buijsse, of the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, and colleagues wrote in a report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association: “Usual cocoa intake was associated with a 45 to 50 per cent lower risk of cardiovascular death and all-cause death.

“Because cocoa is a rich source of antioxidants, it may also be related to other diseases that are linked to oxidative stress, such as pulmonary diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and certain types of cancer. However, this merits further investigation.”

The researchers said the elderly men got two-thirds of their cocoa from chocolate confectionery.

Confectionery giant Mars has revealed it plans to mass-produce a line of products under the name CocoaVia, which claim to tackle heart disease and cut the risk of cancer. The sweets are made from a type of dark chocolate high in flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans that is thought to have a blood-thinning effect similar to aspirin.

The study of mental attitude by other Dutch researchers found “a strong and consistent association” with optimism and a 50 per cent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, in line with previous studies that a “positive life orientation” is good for your physical health.