It ‘s official: chocolate is a ‘shield’ for the heart. Dark or milk, solid or liquid, bar or in the form of biscuit, each version of the more popular with gourmands promises to reduce by one third the risk of heart attack and stroke. Make no mistake, however ‘, those who think they have an excuse to binge: the protective effect is achieved with only 7.5 grams per day, more or less the equivalent of a chocolate.

To promote the chocolate is a misanalysis presented in Paris, at the congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The research, coordinated by Oscar Franco of the University of Cambridge, GB, and’ published today in the online of the ‘British Medical Journal’. Virtues’ of chocolate are certainly not new. It is known that antioxidants and anti-inflammatory powers, which lowers blood pressure and takes away the insulin resistance, diabetes hall. But now ‘the British team has reviewed the main studies on the subject. Seven jobs were examined, for a total of over 100 000 people involved, that is healthy with heart disease. For each study, Franco and colleagues compared the groups together the quantities consumed higher and lower in chocolate. In 5 studies has shown that people who ate more chocolate had a lower cardiovascular risk.

Overall, net of possible confounding factors, the probability of heart attacks decreased by 37% and the risk of stroke by 29%. No positive association, was instead found between chocolate consumption and prevention of heart failure. The authors insist on the need for further studies that may occur if and’ chocolate really responsible for these benefits, or are there elements not yet identified could explain the apparent effect-otherwise shield. Not only. I also invite researchers to pay attention to calories: the different ‘variations’ of chocolate on the market give about 500 calories per 100 grams, then exaggerate it means to lose any possible advantage in the blows of pounds, diabetes and heart disease. Hence the call for scientists in industry: ”We must find ways to reduce the intake of fat and sugar-based products supplied by the chocolate on the market today.”