Chocolate may be better for your health than tea because it contains more of a chemical that could prevent cancer and heart disease, researchers have said.
The research measured the amount of catechins – the chemical thought to be behind the benefits – in different types of chocolate.
The substance is also found in tea – leading the researchers to recommend a cup of tea with a chocolate biscuit as one way to help maintain good health.
The researchers, from Holland’s National Institute of Public Health and Environment, published their findings in The Lancet medical journal. Dr Ilja Arts and colleagues examined the chemical compounds in a range of foods and discovered that catechins are found in chocolate. Up until now tea was thought to contain the largest amount but the new research indicates that dark chocolate has four times as many. Catechins are believed to protect against heart disease and cancer and so eating products that contain them could have health benefits.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Health Benefits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.