Contents:
- Medical Video: How to fight heart disease with dark chocolate and red wine
- Eating chocolate is good for people with heart disease
- How much chocolate a day is allowed for me?
- Also be careful with the sugar content in chocolate
Medical Video: How to fight heart disease with dark chocolate and red wine
Are you a chocolate lover? Foods that are said to make this happy mood have hidden benefits for your heart health. This benefit is even better for those of you who do have a history or are at risk of heart disease. What makes chocolate good for the heart? So, how much can you eat chocolate if you have heart disease?
Eating chocolate is good for people with heart disease
There are so many studies that claim that chocolate is good for the heart. One of them is research from Norfolk, England.
In a study published in the journal Heart, it was found that eating chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease by 11 percent and prevent early death in people with heart disease by 25 percent. Even the study also reported that eating chocolate can reduce the risk of stroke by 23 percent.
Although it is not yet known exactly what makes chocolate beneficial for heart health, experts conclude that the flavonoid content in chocolate is the reason. Flavonoids which are part of antioxidants have the ability to reduce blood pressure, act as anti-inflammatory, prevent blood clots, and facilitate blood flow.
How much chocolate a day is allowed for me?
If based on research previously mentioned, people who have a low risk of heart disease may eat 100 grams of chocolate per day. However, of course this cannot be used as a benchmark. Because, more research is needed to determine the limits of good chocolate to be consumed in one day.
Apart from the safe limits of eating chocolate that is uncertain, the European Food Safety Authority has determined that consumption of flavonoids should only be consumed in one day - a maximum of 200 mg of flavonoids from cocoa beans per day.
For comparison, the content of cocoa in one stick of dark chocolate can reach 70-90%, depending on the brand. This is quite a lot, therefore there must be a lot of flavonoids. Moreover, it is quite difficult to check how much cocoa content in one chocolate milk bar is usually sold in supermarkets because this information is often not included.
Also be careful with the sugar content in chocolate
Whatever type of chocolate you eat is actually as good for heart health. Even chocolate milk. But indeed, you need to pay attention to the true sugar and fat content in your favorite chocolate. The reason is, most chocolate bars sold on the market contain high sugar and fat from various kinds of milk and other additives.
To outsmart, you can eat dark chocolate which tends to be low in saturated fat and sugar. In addition, choose also chocolate that has a minimum cocoa content of 70% or even more. More research has agreed and states that the benefits of dark chocolate for heart health are greater than other types of chocolate. Even so, don't often eat chocolate. Everything that is excessive, is certainly not good for the body.
