Consuming more chocolates regularly may actually be more beneficial among teens who wish to lose weight and become slimmer, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Granada in Spain found that European adolescents who consumed more chocolates are slimmer compared to those who didn't even if they weren't really dieting or exercising. The researchers involved in the study looked at the eating and exercise habits of 1,458 adolescents between the age of 12 and 17.
Their research was a part of the HELENA study group, a group assigned to collecting and analyzing data about diets, fitness and other types of health measures among teenagers in Europe, according to Medical News Today. They found that those who consumed more chocolate had lower levels of overall body fat, regardless if they were dieting or exercising. These results were published in the journal Nutrition. The researchers also pointed out that chocolate has obvious health benefits. Chocolate is filled with antioxidants and may also be good for the heart and blood circulation.
However, the researchers failed to examine why chocolate consumption appears to help adolescents stay slim. Previous studies suggested that this may have something to do with flavonoids - a group of polyphenolic compounds known to have numerous beneficial biochemical and antioxidant effects in the body.
"It's also possible that flavonoids in chocolate may decrease blood concentrations of bad cholesterol and reduce blood pressure," says Dr. Susanna C. Larsson, of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, where she and her team conducted a study of Swedish men that found chocolate consumption may also lower stroke risk. Critics have lamented that dark chocolate is good for the heart but Dr. Larsson expressed that surprisingly, 90 percent of chocolate eaten in Sweden and found in their study is milk-based.
