Chocolate may prevent cardiometabolic disorders

BMJ 2011 Aug 29. Chocolate consumption and cardiometabolic disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis. (University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK)

• Meta-analysis
• 7 studies out of 4576 references
• 114,009 participants
• cohort or cross-sectional
• Highest levels of chocolate consumption compared to lowest
• 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease
• 29% reduction in stroke
• No significant relation with heart failure risk
• Definitions of highest/lowest consumption groups

Highest	Lowest
once a week or more	never
once a week	less than once a week
more than once a week	never
cocoa intake 4.18 g/day	none
>1 servings/day	none
chocolate 7.5 g/day	1.7 g/day
>5 servings/week	none

Less stroke in coffee-drinking women

Stroke. 2011 Mar 10. Coffee consumption and risk of stroke in women. (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden)

• Questionnaire study on 34670 Swedish women, followed up for 10 years.

• During a mean follow-up of 10 years, 1680 stroke events occurred.

• Advantage in relative risk in coffee-drinking women: total stroke, cerebral infarction, hemorrhagic stroke (ICH + SAH), and subarachnoid hemorrhage. (No significant advantage/disadvantage in intracerebral hemorrhage)

• Above advantages not nullified by correcting age, smoking, body mass, diabetes, hypertension, or alcohol.