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'Chocolate good for the heart' claims sadly too good to be true
Conclusion Health stories that suggest eating or drinking something we like, whether it's chocolate or wine, are always popular. But they don't really tell us anything we don't know already. Certain foods may have a small impact on certain types of diseases, but it's the overall diet that counts. Previous studies have already suggested that the antioxidant properties of cocoa could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, so it's surprising that this study focused on one particular cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation. AF is a common condition that affects heart rate, often causing a faster than normal, irregular ...
Source: NHS News Feed - May 24, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news

Can chocolate make you smarter?
ConclusionStudies suggesting that chocolate is good for us always grab the headlines. However, as is so often the case, the reality is less clear than the headlines suggest.The current study adds to information about the links between diet and brain function – the way our brain processes and manages information. It found that people who scored better than average on these tests said they ate chocolate more often than people who scored worse than average on the tests. But we don't know why that is.There are quite a few limitations to the study. It's cross-sectional, which means we don't know which came first: the chocol...
Source: NHS News Feed - March 9, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Mental health Source Type: news

Eating chocolate may slightly lower your risk of stroke
ConclusionThis study used a large prospective cohort of English residents to estimate the risk chocolate poses to cardiovascular death and disease. In addition, they systematically combed the research literature for other similar studies, combining their results with that of other researchers. By comparing the highest chocolate consumers with chocolate abstainers, they found that chocolate was linked to a lower risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease. The risk for coronary heart disease was not statistically significant. Results from the meta-analysis of eight additional studies showed higher chocolate consumption was li...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 16, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Neurology Source Type: news

Cocoa may improve blood flow to the brain in elderly
Conclusion This study suggests that cocoa consumption may be associated with the manner in which blood flow and brain function interact among elderly people with vascular conditions. A major limitation of this study is the method of analysis. While randomised controlled trials are considered to be the best method to determine the effect of a treatment or intervention (in this case, consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa) on a health outcome (neurovascular coupling), this strength depends on the ability to analyse outcomes in the intervention compared with the control group. In this study, the analysis of the intervention group...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 8, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Neurology Older people Source Type: news