Blogfinger

by Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times

ABC World News (8/29, story 10, 0:30, Sawyer) reported that “chocolate may be a kind of secret weapon against heart disease.”

Bloomberg News (8/30, Torsoli) reports that “regular consumption” of chocolate “may slash the risk of developing heart disease by a third, according to research published in the British Medical Journal and presented…at the European Society of Cardiology’s conference in Paris.”

The Los Angeles Times (8/30, Stein) “Booster Shots” blog reports that investigators analyzed data from “seven studies looking at the link between eating chocolate and a reduction in heart disease that included 114,009 people.”

The Time (8/30, Melnick) “Healthland” blog reports, “Five of the seven studies showed some benefit to eating chocolate. Overall, people with the highest chocolate consumption levels had 37% lower risk of heart disease and a 29% lower risk of stroke than those who ate the least chocolate.”

The CNN (8/30) “The Chart” blog points out that “the studies, notably, did not differentiate between dark or milk chocolate and included consumption of different types of chocolate (bars, shakes, etc.).”

MedPage Today (8/30, Neale) reports that one of the researchers “noted that most commercially available chocolate products are high in fat, sugar, and calories, and that overindulging could counteract any of the potential benefits, a sentiment echoed by Janet Wright, MD, vice president of science and quality for the American College of Cardiology.” In an interview, Dr Wright said, “We tend to take a little bit of advice and think that more is better,” but “in this case, more is probably not better because of the fat content and the calorie content.”

Also covering the story were the NPR (8/30, Shute) “Shots” blog, the Grand Rapids Press (8/30, Thoms), WebMD (8/30, Laino) and HealthDay (8/30, Reinberg).

BLOGFINGER MEDICAL COMMENTARY: In our book “Prevention Does Work: A Guide to a Healthy Heart” 2011, by Eileen and Paul Goldfinger, we discuss chocolate on page 18. This is the quote: “Chocolate contains saturated fats (especially if milk is added) and traditionally is forbidden in low-fat diets, but dark chocolate also contains flavenoids, which are chemicals that can relax blood vessels and reduce the tendency of blood to clot. Flavenoids are also potent antioxidants and are found in red wine, cherries, apricots, apples and green tea. Some studies suggest a reduced cardiovascular risk with increased flavenoid intake. There may be some health benefits from chocolate, but the research so far is inconclusive. Chocolate is fattening and has too much fat. It is best to only eat small amounts.”

It should also be noted that the fats in dark chocolate are the kind, although saturated, that do not raise cholesterol levels.

The authors of the British Medical Journal article published two days ago and mentioned above, were quick to point out that this trial is not definitive. They concluded by saying, “Further experimental studies are required to confirm a potentially beneficial effect of chocolate consumption.”

My latest advice is to have small amounts of dark chocolate every few days. There is good reason to believe that it will be protective.

Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC

Ocean Grove, New Jersey