Eating chocolates may help cut your extra kilos

Beatrice A Golomb,M.D.,Ph.D.,and colleagues with the University of California,San Diego,studied 1,018 men and woman without known cardiovascular disease,diabetes or extremes of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol LDL-C levels who were screened for participation in a clinical study examining noncardiac effects of statins.

To measure chocolate consumption,1,017 of the participants answered a question about how many times per week they ate chocolate.

BMI was calculated for 972 of them. Of the participants,975 completed a food frequency questionnaire.

8220;Adults who consumed chocolate more frequently had a lower BMI than those who consumed chocolate less often,8221; the researchers said.

Participants had a mean average age of 57 years,68 per cent were men and the mean BMI was 28. They ate chocolate a mean average of two times a week and exercised 3.6 times a week.

8220;In conclusion,our findings that more frequent chocolate intake is linked to lower BMI are intriguing. A randomized trial of chocolate for metabolic benefits in humans may be merited,8221; the researchers concluded.

The study appeared in the March 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine,one of the JAMA/Archives journals.