Need another reason to eat chocolate? A new study found that consuming chocolate actually reduces the risk of women having a stroke by up to 20 percent.
Researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden, asked women between the ages of 49 and 83 how often they ate different foods, including chocolate. In the study, the women who ate the most chocolate, specifically chocolate with high cocoa concentrations, had lower risks of stroke.
Some stroke risks specific to women include taking birth control pills, being pregnant, suffering from migraine headaches, having a thick waist and using hormone replacement therapy.
Although it does have certain health benefits, chocolate should still be consumed in moderation.
“For right now, it seems that chocolate is not bad- it may be helpful,” said Dr. Javier Provencio, of the Cleveland Clinic. “But it also has other things to consider, such as weight gain and diabetes control, and everybody should think about that carefully before indulging too much.”
The study was published in the Journal of theAmerican College of Cardiology.
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