Chocolate Can Reduce Heart Risk They found people who had an average of six grams of chocolate per

day or about one square of a chocolate bar had a 39 percent lower risk of either a heart atta ck or stroke. Chocolate Can Reduce Heart Risk Study: Chocolate could reduce heart risk MARIA CHENG From Associated Press March 30, 2010 9:50 AM EDT LONDON (AP) The Easter Bunny might lower your chances of having a heart problem. According to a new study, small doses of chocolate every day could decrease you r risk of having a heart attack or stroke by nearly 40 percent. German researchers followed nearly 20,000 people over eight years, sending them several questionnaires about their diet and exercise habits. They found people who had an average of six grams of chocolate per day or about one square of a chocolate bar had a 39 percent lower risk of either a heart atta ck or stroke. The study is scheduled to be published Wednesday in the European H eart Journal. Previous studies have suggested dark chocolate in small amounts could be good fo r you, but this is the first study to track its effects over such a long period of time. Experts think the flavonols contained in chocolate are responsible. Fla vonols help the muscles in blood vessels widen, which leads to a drop in blood p ressure. "It's a bit too early to come up with recommendations that people should eat mor e chocolate, but if people replace sugar or high-fat snacks with a little piece of dark chocolate, that might help," said Brian Buijsse, a nutritional epidemiol ogist at the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Nuthetal, Germany, the study 's lead author. The people tracked by Buijsse and colleagues had no history of heart problems, h ad similar habits for risk factors like smoking and exercise, and did not vary w idely in their Body Mass Index. Since the study only observed people and did not give them chocolate directly to test what its effects were, experts said more research was needed to determine the candy's exact impact on the body. The study was paid for by the German gover nment and the European Union. Doctors also warned that eating large amounts of chocolate could lead to weight gain, a major risk factor for heart problems and strokes. "Basic science has demonstrated quite convincingly that dark chocolate ... impro ves vascular and platelet function," said Frank Ruschitzka in a statement, a car diologist at the University Hospital Zurich and spokesman for the European Socie ty of Cardiology. "However, before you rush to add dark chocolate to your diet, be aware that 100 grams of dark chocolate contains roughly 500 calories." Buijsse said people hoping to benefit from chocolate's heart healthy effects sho uld cut out other snacks and sweets if they wanted to eat chocolate. "The bigges t problem with this is not to gain weight," said Buijsse. "Eating too much choco late will have negative effects that far outweigh the positive effects of cocoa. " http://adampaulgreen.com/chocolate-can-reduce-heart-risk/ About MXI Corp (Marketing Xocolate International Corporation): Established in 2005, Marketing Xocolate International Corporation (MXI-Corp) is the world leader in natural antioxidant products with a particular focus on heal thy, dark (and now milk) chocolate products. All MXI Corp products are focused on potent doses of delicious, antioxidant-rich Belgian cacao. MXI Corp believes

that the high levels of natural antioxidants that are found in its cacao can pr ovide a viable solution to individual nutritional needs. The Xoai (show-sigh) pro duct line, which currently includes nine products, is manufactured utilizing a p roprietary cold-press process, which preserves the nutritional values of the com panys proprietary blends of vitamins and minerals. Nevada-based MXI Corp is a pri vately held company. The Brooks family, owners and operators of MXI Corp, have t otal combined chocolate sales of more than $1 billion. ~MXI Corp currently operates in 25+ countries and has over 200,000 distributors. ~Archived press releases can be found at http://www.AdamPaulGreen.com ~Join Xocai Today! Additional Key Information Can Be Found Here: http://adampaulgreen.com/join-xocai-today-and-eat-health ... http://adampaulgreen.com/resources/getting-started/promos/ http://adampaulgreen.com/resources/getting-started/