Chocolate twice a week 'protects heart victims'

Daily Mail. August 15, 2009.

No surprise that I liked this article! As a regular consumer of 85%+ cocoa dark chocolate...

A Swedish study has shown that heart attack survivors, who eat dark (real) chocolate regularly are nearly 70% less likely to die from cardiac problems than those who rarely eat it. Even a weekly treat can help, almost halving the risk of death from heart problems.

The findings were published in the Journal of Internal Medicine. Previous studies have already shown that dark chocolate, which is rich in antioxidants, can lower the risk of blood clots, protect against bowel cancer and even help prevent premature births. Antioxidants protect the body from ageing caused by free radicals.

There were some very interesting stats in the article: Every year, 270,000 people in Britain suffer a heart attack. About a third die before reaching hospital - invariably because they delay seeking help, as that recent powerful advert was designed to illustrate.

The Swedish study involved 1,169 patients aged between 45 and 70, who had been admitted to hospital with a heart attack between 1992 and 1994. Each one was questioned on their dietary habits, including how much chocolate they ate and they were followed up for a further decade.