More frequent eating of
chocolate was linked to lower body mass index (BMI), according to a research published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Consumption of certain types of chocolate has been linked to some favorable metabolic associations with blood pressure, insulin sensitivity and cholesterol level. However, because
chocolate can be a calorie-laden sweet there are concerns about eating it.
Lead author Beatrice Golomb and her colleagues from the University of California, San Diego, studied 1,018 men and women without known cardiovascular disease, diabetes or extremes of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels who were screened for
participation in a clinical study examining noncardiac effects of statins.
To measure chocolate consumption, 1,017 of the participants answered a question about how many times per week they ate chocolate, and 975 of them completed a food frequency questionnaire. BMI was calculated for 972 of the participants.
"Adults who consumed chocolate more frequently had a lower BMI than those who consumed chocolate less often," the authors note. That was still the case after researchers accounted for participants' age and gender, as well as how much they exercised.
The effect worked out to a five- to seven-pound difference between people who ate five servings of chocolate per week compared to those who didn't eat any, according to Golomb.
However, it was only how often people ate chocolate, rather than the total amount they ate regularly, that was linked to their weight, the study team reported.
"Our findings, that more frequent chocolate intake is linked to lower BMI, are intriguing," the authors conclude. "A randomized trial of chocolate for metabolic benefits in humans may be merited." - source: PNA
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