Eating chocolate and sipping champagne is good for your heart, study says

DAILY STAR

Little luxuries in life are good for our health.

No really, a study has just proved it. There’s some surprisingly good news for everyone planning a romantic Valentine’s Day treat this year, as chocolate and champagne are not necessarily bad for you.

In fact, the treats may just be helping your heart to stay healthy.

Dr Avinash Hari Narayanan (MBChB), clinical lead at London Medical Laboratory, said: “The good news for Valentine’s Day is that chocolates and fizz, in moderation, might improve our heart health. Dark chocolate made from cocoa beans contains natural, beneficial plant compounds called polyphenols.

“These have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, while also producing nitrous oxide in the blood, helping relax blood vessels and so reduce blood pressure. Eating chocolate at least once a week is linked to an 8% reduced risk of heart disease, according to research published in the ‘European Journal of Preventive Cardiology’.

“It also found that chocolate contains heart healthy nutrients that may reduce inflammation and improve the amount of good cholesterols in the body. A fascinating review of studies in the ‘British Medical Journal’, which included over 114,000 participants, found those who ate higher levels of chocolate were 37% less likely to have coronary heart disease than people who ate the least chocolate.”