Want to avoid a stroke ? Then don’t meat, milk, eggs…

Health gurus, have a habit of generating long lists of “FORBIDDEN FRUITS”. These lists can be summarized as, everything that tastes mediocre-to-awful is allowed, while everything that tastes good, is not acceptable.

The list of don’ts can be SO overwhelming, that it is easy to question whether the “going without”, is worth it.

Chocolate is allowed

Researchers from Sweden have come to the rescue.

Based on an analysis of the eating habits of 37,103 Swedish men ages 49 to 75, the team have updated the what’s in and what’s out list.

The update has put something that tastes FABULOUS, onto the “what is allowed” list.

Yup, it is official CHOCOLATE IS ALLOWED.

Stroke dodging requires chocolate

The team discovered that men who shunned chocolate, had the highest risk of suffering a stroke.

Conversely, those eating the most chocolate had a 17 % – 19 % lower risk of stroke.

Eating chocolate is THE WAY to avoid a stroke.

Well, maybe not, this is an epidemiological study, based on a one time food questionnaire, these kinds of studies are flawed at the best of times.

Bet you can’t remember what you had for lunch last Tuesday and if you ate a bar of chocolate, would you eat and tell ? Maybe, maybe not. I think I might not tell – it’s embarrassing to admit you scoffed down so much of something that is officially frowned upon.

So it probably is a stretch to suggest chocolate prevents strokes, but not such a stretch to suggest eating chocolate has little impact on your risk of suffering a stroke.

If you like it, eat it.

In moderation…..

From a calorie perspective, on paper at least, chocolate is trouble with a capital T. And eating too much on a regular basis……. is a recipe for obesity.

Chocolate is full of sugar and fat, which makes it a particularly calorie dense little snack. And the calories are absolutely delicious – leading to lots of dopamine squirts, which is associated with addictive behaviours.

But chocolate is special, the calories in chocolate, don’t seem to add up to fat, which is why a little chocolate won’t HURT. Dark is considered to be better than milk chocolate, but for the record the Swedes in this study were eating milk chocolate, not dark chocolate.

It is the flavanoids

In addition to those CALORIES, chocolate also has high concentrations of a group of chemicals known as the flavonoids.

Flavonoids are anti-oxidants….. this means that they are able to mop up free radicals and things.

It is these free radicals and things, which have been implicated in blood vessel damage, which underpins strokes.

Naughty and Nice

Not too many things on the ALLOWED LIST are nice.

So go on, break off a square and pop it into your mouth. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Further reading

To motivate your brain nibble on chocolate covered carrots	When to cheat while on diet	Why you should keep a spoonful of sugar in your brief case

Interested in learning more about how food influences body chemistry ?  

NOTE : Privacy & spam policy. Spoonful of Science will not rent, trade or sell the e-mail list to anyone. You can unsubscribe at any time by following the unsubscribe link.