Written by | Song grammar
Chocolate, whose raw cocoa powder is rich in fiber, iron and phytochemicals that are beneficial to health, as well as antioxidant polyphenols and methylxanthines, is known as "God's Food". Due to its high sugar and fat content, it is considered a typical sweet food, and in people's opinion, chocolate must be a fattening food.
Nowadays, more and more people are beginning to pay attention to eating healthy and stay away from high-calorie sweets such as chocolate and sugar. However, several studies have shown that chocolate consumption can reduce the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, etc.
Recently, Professor Bao Wei of the University of Science and Technology of China, Sun Yangbo of the University of Tennessee and others published a research paper entitled "Chocolate Consumption in Relation to All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in Women: The Women's Health Initiative" in the journal "Nutrition and Dietetics Society".
The study found that eating chocolate reduced the risk of all-cause death, cardiovascular death, and dementia death. Eating 1-3 servings (28 g per serving) per week was associated with a 7% lower risk of all-cause death, a 12% lower risk of cardiovascular death, and an 11% lower risk of dementia death compared to no chocolate.
In the study, researchers analyzed a large prospective cohort of 84,709 female participants aged 50-79 years in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and collected their chocolate intake in the form of questionnaires, divided into: no eating, < 1 serving/week, 1-3 servings/week, 4-6 servings/week, and ≥1 serving/day. The association between chocolate consumption and all-cause, cardiovascular, cancer and dementia deaths was analysed.
During an average follow-up period of 19 years, a total of 25,388 deaths were recorded, of which 7,069 died from cardiovascular disease, 7,030 from cancer, and 3,279 from dementia.
Studies have found that eating chocolate helps reduce all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and dementia mortality.
Specifically, for all-cause mortality, compared with not eating chocolate, people who consumed chocolate < 1 serving, 1-3 servings per week, 4-6 servings per week, and ≥ 1 servings per day had a 5%, 7%, 3%, and 10% reduction in all-cause mortality, respectively.
For cardiovascular mortality, compared with not eating chocolate, people who consumed chocolate < 1 serving, 1-3 servings per week, and ≥1 servings per day had a 4%, 12%, and 8% reduction in cardiovascular mortality, respectively. With 4-6 servings per week, cardiovascular mortality increased by 6%.
In addition, mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) was similar to cardiovascular mortality, and chocolate consumption was not associated with stroke mortality.
For dementia mortality, people who consumed chocolate < 1 serving, 1-3 servings per week, 4-6 servings per week, and ≥ 1 servings per day compared with no chocolate, reduced dementia mortality by 9%, 11%, 3%, and 3%, respectively. Further analysis found that Alzheimer's disease was not included between chocolate consumption and dementia mortality.
For cancer mortality, the study found that chocolate consumption was not associated with overall cancer mortality. However, those who consumed chocolate had a lower mortality rate from lung cancer compared to those who did not consume chocolate, and those who ate 4-6 servings of chocolate per week had the lowest risk, with a 23% reduction.
The researchers say the study is the first to report an association between chocolate consumption and mortality, with 1-3 servings per week having the greatest health benefits.
The researchers analyzed that the health effects of chocolate consumption are complex, because chocolate contains both potentially harmful components and potentially beneficial compounds. Added sugars and unhealthy fats have been identified as risk factors for chronic disease and long-term mortality, while cocoa flavonoids have protective effects on cardiovascular and cognitive function.
Early studies have shown that the potential cardioprotective properties of cocoa include primarily antihypertensive, antiatherosclerosis, and anti-inflammatory activity, as well as inhibition of platelet activation and aggregation and alleviation of endothelial dysfunction. Randomized controlled trials have shown that a single dose of chocolate or cocoa flavanols improves cognitive function.
Still, this is an observational study and no causal relationship can be established between chocolate consumption and mortality. In addition, there is no distinction between types of chocolate, and different types of chocolate may produce different results because they contain different amounts of energy, sugar, and flavanols.
Taken together, the results of this large prospective cohort study suggest that moderate chocolate consumption is associated with reduced all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and dementia mortality, particularly 1-3 servings (28 g per serving) per week.
Paper Link:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2022.12.007
Disclaimer: This article interprets the literature truthfully and does not provide any advice.