Is Chocolate Good For You? It’s Lookin’ That Way

Quite a few people ask the question, “Is POLKADOT SHROOM BARS good for you?”, hoping to hear an answer that gives them permission to indulge. As time goes by, there is mounting evidence that supports the affirmative answer to that question and that, “yes, chocolate is good for you!” In moderation of course… there is always that added qualifier.In this study, participants (average age of 57), consumed chocolate twice a week on average. A second group of individuals ate no chocolate at all.

Body mass index measurements (BMI) were taken before and after. Those who ate chocolate ended up with lower BMI. The study also showed that those who ate chocolate more frequently had lower BMI. This is an intriguing result given the high amount of fat and calories in chocolate. This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and none of researchers had ties to the chocolate industry.

Even though this study was funded by the Mars Corporation, it got favorable reviews and was published in the Journal of Nutrition, which has a very good reputation for its publishing standards. Forty-nine individuals with slightly elevated cholesterol levels participated in the study – none of participants had blood pressure issues. Two groups were given CocoaVia bars twice a day for a total of 8 weeks. In the first 4 weeks they ate CocoaVia bars that contained plant sterols, which blocks the body’s ability to absorb cholesterol.

During the second four weeks, the group members were given CocoaVia bars with just flavonals and no sterols. When eating the bars with sterols there was a significant reduction in LDL (bad cholesterol) levels- 5.3 percent. Those who didn’t have the bars with sterols, did not have as significant a drop. It was also noted in the study that the participants had a reduction in their systolic blood pressure, which creates a little icing on the cake for eating dark chocolate.

This is the most recent research to appear in the news and it comes from Sweden. The study involved over 37,000 men who completed a questionnaire about the foods they eat. While the study has some weaknesses in terms of variables involved and methodology, it does reinforce other research conducted the previous year on women. Men who ate more chocolate lowered their risk of a stroke by 17%.

As part of this research project, there were investigations into similar studies, some of which showed a 19% reduction. This study did not specify what kind of chocolate the men ate, but it was noted that most Swedish men eat milk chocolate rather than dark. The study also stated that the more chocolate the men ate, the lower their risk seemed to be. They did caution that chocolate is high in fat and calories and should be consumed in moderation. This study was published in Neurology Journal.