Friday, October 19, 2007

Dark chocolate acts as aspirin


Dark chocolate acts as aspirin – study
Cocoa contained in dark chocolate may function in the same way as aspirin in preventing heart attacks, according to a new US study.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine say that a few squares of dark chocolate each day can reduce the risk of heart attack by almost 50 per cent in some cases.

The researchers said platelets in the blood of dark chocolate eaters clotted more slowly, reducing platelet clumping in the blood. Platelet clumping can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack.

Given the high levels of saturated fat and sugar in chocolate, you can obtain the benefits of cocoa on a regular basis without the added kilojoules by having a hot chocolate or iced chocolate drink made from cocoa, with skim milk.

Source: Presentation to the American Heart Association’s annual Scientific Session, November 2006.

3 comments:

Ewen said...

That explains your permanent headache since Italy (according to Strewth). You must have been off your chocolate!

Tesso said...

Dark chocolate .... I must have a very very healthy heart :-)

Anonymous said...

how long did you surf to find that information?