Two Bars Of Chocolate A Day To Prevent Heart Disease? Sorry...

We all love those news stories that insist chocolate is a healthy food and that eating it is good for us.

And new research has found that it may have even more heart benefits than previously thought - even milk chocolate!

But though the results have led some reporters to suggest that eating a couple of bars of Dairy Milk a day could help prevent heart disease, sadly for our sweet teeth this really isn't the case.

Eating a small amount of dark chocolate is good for you, that much is generally accepted. But eat too much and the sugar content in even dark chocs is so high that it can't be considered a healthy food.

In milk varieties, the levels of healthy antioxidants and flavornoids are lower, reducing their health credentials, and contain fat and higher sugar levels because of the natural lactose in the dairy.

So why are we hearing that it might be good for us?

The study found that those people who ate around 100g of chocolate - two standard bars, regardless of their colour - showed an 11 per cent lower risk of heart disease and stroke.

But what it doesn't seem to account for is everything else about these people. Are they more active than others (which might explain why they need to eat two chocolate bars a day to keep going)? Or perhaps they don't experience excessive weight gain despite these high sugar items. Or maybe the rest of their diet is so good they can afford the odd splurge.

The research was published in the medical journal Heart. Researchers explained: "There does not appear to be any evidence to say that chocolate should be avoided by those who are concerned about cardiovascular risk."

But they don't go on to add that perhaps people SHOULD avoid it if they're worried about obesity, diabetes and even cancer - all illnesses with a clear link to high sugar consumption.

Really, we're just being told what we want to hear - chocolate is good for us.

Why you shouldn't really eat two chocolate bars a day

There's nothing wrong with eating your favourite chocolate as an occasional treat. But regularly eating chocolate in these sort of quantities isn't good for you - even the dark stuff.

Obesity is already a massive problem in the UK and it's becoming increasingly obvious that sugar is a major causal factor.

The fact that these people are about to eat two chocolate bars a day and remain a sensible weight suggests that they're predisposed to better health than those who've already had to give up such bad diet habits.

As Dr Tim Chico, cardiologist at the University of Sheffield, agrees. "This study adds to the evidence that people who consume chocolate tend to have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, although such studies cannot say whether the chocolate is the cause of this protective effect.

"However, it is also clear that chocolate has the potential to increase weight, which is unequivocally bad for cardiovascular health."

So a couple of dark chocolate squares, yes. Two bars of milk chocolate a day, no. However much we want it.

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