Chocolate

Had a Heart Attack?Start Eating Chocholate

Not that we need an excuse to eat chocolate, but if you’ve had a heart attack,

you may want to grab the Ghirardelli. Scientists know that eating dark

chocolate (not milk—that’s the obesity-feeder) can reduce person’s risk of

stroke and heart disease. Now researchers have found that eating chocolate can

increase a person’s chances of survival after they’ve suffered a heart attack.

In the Journal of Internal Medicine, Boston researchers published a study

finding that when people who’d had a heart attack ate chocolate two to three

times a week, they significantly reduced their risk of dying from heart disease.

The scientists studied over 1,000 non-diabetic Swedish men and women between

the ages of 45 and 70, all of whom had suffered from a heart attack in the

1990s. They were asked about their diet over the past year and about how much

chocolate they ate. The researchers compared their heath exam from the three

months after their initial hospital stay to their condition eight years later. They

found that “the incidence of fatal heart attacks correlated inversely with the

amount of chocolate consumed.”

So what’s the secret in dark chocolate? The researchers believe the

antioxidants in cocoa keep free radicals from damaging cells the body. Plus it

tastes so darn good.