People who ate chocolate a few times a week or more weighed less than those who rarely indulged, according to a U.S. study involving 1,000 people.
Researchers said the findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, don’t prove that adding a candy bar to your daily diet will help you shed pounds. Nor did the total amount of chocolate consumed have an impact. It was the frequency that mattered.
But the researchers, led by Beatrice Golomb, from the University of California San Diego, said it was possible that antioxidants in chocolate could be behind health benefits including lower blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as decreased body weight.
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The effect worked out to a 2.3- to 3.2-kg (five- to seven-lb.) difference between people who ate five servings of chocolate a week compared to those who didn’t eat any, Golomb said.
Researchers noted not all chocolate is created equal.
Past evidence suggests that antioxidants in chocolate called flavonoids are behind any benefits tied to chocolate — and dark chocolate has the most flavonoids.
And researchers agreed that moderation is important.
