A chocolate habit may protect women from heart failure later in life -- but only when enjoyed in moderation, researchers found.
A prospective cohort study of almost 32,000 middle-age and older Swedish women found that one to three servings a month of European chocolate (typically higher in cocoa content) reduced the risk of heart failure 26% (95% CI 0.58 to 0.95) over nine years, according to Murray A. Mittleman, MD, DrPH, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues.
Women who ate European chocolate once or twice a week had a 32% lower heart failure risk (95% CI 0.50 to 0.93) compared with those who didn't regularly eat the candy, Mittleman and co-authors reported online in Circulation: Heart Failure
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/DietNutrition/21708
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