That heart-shaped box of chocolate you got for Valentine's just might have some benefits for your real heart, a new study hints. The study, which combined the results of 42 small clinical trials, found that people fed chocolate or cocoa for a few weeks to months had small dips in their blood pressure and improved blood vessel function.
On average, chocolate eaters shaved a couple points from their blood pressure and showed a small improvement in "flow-mediated dilation" - a measure of how well the blood vessels respond to increased blood flow.
They also had a dip in their levels of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar. High insulin levels are linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are far from the first to connect chocolate to heart health.
A number of widely reported studies have found that chocolate lovers seem to have lower rates of certain heart risks, like high blood pressure. But those types of studies, known as observational studies, cannot prove cause-and-effect. People who indulge in chocolate may have other factors in their lives that explain the better heart health. In contrast, the new study focused on clinical trials where researchers randomly assigned people to eat chocolate or not, then watched for changes in chocolate eaters' blood pressure, cholesterol and other heart risk factors.
The fact that there were some improvements suggests that chocolate may have some actual benefits, according to the researchers, led by Lee Hooper of Norwich Medical School in the UK. But Hooper cautioned that the studies in the analysis were small and had their flaws. And possibly most important, none have been large or long enough to show whether there's any effect on a person's risk of heart disease or stroke.
For now, Lichtenstein said, if you enjoy a little chocolate in your life, you can probably keep doing so. But don't add it in the hopes of helping your heart.
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