Chocolate Prevents Atrial Fibrillation

If you read the news this past week, you saw the headlines.  Chocolate prevents atrial fibrillation.

It seems to good to be true.  How can something that tastes so good also be healthy for your heart?  In this article, I'll review the latest chocolate study and share what it really means to you.

What is Atrial Fibrillation?

Before I jump into the study, I want to first explain what atrial fibrillation is for those who may not be familiar with this heart condition.  Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia which typically leads to a rapid and irregular pulse.

People with atrial fibrillation often experience shortness of breath and fatigue when their heart goes out of rhythm.  The concern is that this heart rhythm irregularity may lead to strokes, heart failure, dementia, and a premature death.

The Atrial Fibrillation Study

In this study, researchers recruited 55,502 people who ranged in age from 50 to 64.  They asked each study participant how often they ate chocolate and then followed these people to see who developed atrial fibrillation over the next 13.5 years.

At the end of their 13.5 year study, 3,346 of the original 55,502 people had developed atrial fibrillation.  Quite remarkably, those eating chocolate at least weekly enjoyed up to a 20% decreased risk of atrial fibrillation.

For those looking for the optimal dose of dark chocolate, the greatest benefit was seen in people eating chocolate two to six times a week.  For chocoholics like me, eating chocolate daily conferred a 16% decreased risk of developing atrial fibrillation.

These findings go against conventional wisdom.  Historically, atrial fibrillation patients were told to avoid chocolate because of the concern that caffeine could trigger their arrhythmia.  Now we know that this conventional wisdom is just not true for most people.

I need to point out that this was a Danish study.  For those who have ever purchased chocolate in Denmark, chocolate must be at least 30% cacao.  Thirty percent cacao almost meets U.S. standards for dark chocolate.  Thus, the chocolate they ate in Denmark with this study is much darker than what Americans typically enjoy.

3 Reasons Why This Study May Not Be Completely Accurate

As much as I love dark chocolate, and would love for this study to be true, there are some problems with the findings.  Below are the three biggest reasons in my mind of why this study may not be completely accurate.

1. Researchers determined chocolate consumption based on a questionnaire.  

The problem with this is that most people don't remember what they ate.  For example, do you remember how much chocolate you ate each day this past month?  How about for the last year?

2. Researchers didn't ask what kind of chocolate people ate.

There is a big difference between milk chocolate, which is mostly sugar, and cacao nibs which don't have any sugar.  As these researchers never asked, we really don't know what kind of chocolate they ate.

Even though European chocolate is much darker than American chocolate, we don't know if they were eating 30% cacao or 90% cacao.  When doing a chocolate study, you really need to know the cacao percentage and the amount of added sugar.

3. Chocolate eaters are different than non-chocolate eaters.

For better or worse, dark chocolate is now viewed as a health food.  Because of this status, people who eat dark chocolate tend to be better educated and more health conscientious.  This study also showed that chocolate eaters were somewhat better educated and lived a slightly healthier lifestyle.  Thus, we can't be sure whether the benefit was due to the chocolate or the type of person who ate chocolate.