健康英语新闻:Study: Chocolate consumption lowers stroke risk in females

BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- For women, chocolate consumption needs to be high, which can lower stroke risk, researchers from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The consumption of chocolate has been demonstrated to reduce diastolic and systolic blood pressure in randomized, short-term trials. Chocolate has also been shown to improve endothelial and platelet function, and to improve insulin resistance.

Susanna Larsson Ph.D. and the team conducted the research on the Swedish Mammography Cohort's 33,372 adult females aged from 49 to 83 years without history of stroke, coronary heart disease, stroke, or diabetes.

They found those who ate at least two chocolate bars each week appeared to have a 20 percent lower risk of stroke, compared to those of the same age and weight who rarely or never ate chocolate.

But, they found, it was only those in the highest quartile of chocolate consumption who had a significant drop in stroke risk.

The researchers explained that cocoa has flavonoids - powerful antioxidants that can suppress LDL, low-density lipoprotein, that can cause stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.