A chocolate-lover s dream study

The latest study to investigate the possible health benefits of chocolate has found an association between lower BMI (body mass index) and frequent consumption of the sweet stuff. A connection between eating chocolate regularly and maintaining a lower weight sounds great as the media pick-up of this research will attest. However, a closer look at the study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that the findings aren t really all that sweet.

Researchers led by a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, set out to investigate the benefits of modest intake of chocolate by examining data from over 1,000 men and women aged 20 to 85, none of whom had any known cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or extremes of LDL cholesterol. In effect, the study took a snapshot of the participants current diets, activity levels, and mental and physical health. Among the group, whose participants consumed chocolate on average twice weekly, the majority were middle-aged men with a mean BMI of 28 (a BMI of at least 25 is considered overweight). Those who ate chocolate more frequently were more likely to have a lower BMI even when researchers took into account factors such as fruit, vegetable, and saturated fat intake, as well as age, gender, and activity levels. Curiously, a more frequent consumption of chocolate was linked not only to lower BMI, but also to higher caloric intake and dietary levels of saturated fat.

The findings have piqued interest particularly because of the intriguing association between lower BMI and higher caloric intake among the more frequent chocolate eaters. The authors posit that this association is consistent with other research suggesting that not all calories are alike that is, that the character of calories ingested has an effect on various health parameters, independent of the total number of calories consumed. And since problems with these aspects of health are all too common among Western populations, it s no wonder this latest chocolate study has attracted attention.

Yet ACSH s Dr. Ruth Kava is skeptical: As the researchers themselves acknowledge, a cross-sectional study cannot prove any kind of causal relationship. Furthermore, the study failed to find any relationship between the quantity of chocolate consumed and BMI; only the frequency of chocolate consumption showed a link. She notes that the researchers neglected to take into account the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate consumed a factor that one would assume to be important, given that one popular theory is that certain cocoa-derived antioxidants may be at play.

While the researchers next step a randomized trial of chocolate to examine its metabolic benefits in humans sounds tasty, Dr. Kava doubts that the findings will prove worthwhile. An individual s overall diet, physical activity, and caloric intake are what ultimately matter, she says. A single ingredient or food simply will not have a profound effect on a person s health. And I say this sadly, as a long-time chocolate lover.