Chocolate and Stroke Risk

Dark chocolate is pitted against milk chocolate in a test of artery function.

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More on chocolate in:
• A Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ( )
• Dark Chocolate and Artery Function ( )
• Does Chocolate Cause Weight Gain? ( )

More on stroke prevention in:
• How to Prevent a Stroke ( )
• Preventing Strokes with Diet ( )
• PREDIMED: Does Eating Nuts Prevent Strokes? ( )

And speaking of stroke, stay tuned for my next video Does Diet Soda Increase Stroke Risk as Much as Regular Soda? ( )

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Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

Image Credits: jackmac34 via pixabay, and pettifoggist & Linelle Photography via flickr. Images have been modified.

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  • NutritionFacts.org says:

    Did you see our update yesterday? I have a brand-new podcast, and we just kicked off our fundraising campaign! Find out more about both at http://nutritionfacts.org/2016/12/15/help-me-keep-nutritionfacts-org-thriving.

  • Anne-Marie says:

    Ah, thanks for the memories of when I lived in Scotland. I never ate any of those deep fried things – way to gross for me – but I do remember seeing them advertised and I had forgotten about them. Until now.

  • The Vegan Ape says:

    I love that you popped up over the video with your ‘Men are from Mars’ joke. Literally one of the best things to happen in 2016!

  • Jeff Lebowski says:

    I use 100% cacao in my coffee and I love dark chocolate, I could never go 16 years without chocolate.

  • Shawn McGuire says:

    This particular segment had me laughing out loud.

    • WEBTRIP_STORE_ ON INSTAGRAM says:

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  • Plant Sugar says:

    I am quite surprised that the negative health effects of chocolate are not documented. For example how the caffeine will affect your digestion long term…

    • Jeff Lebowski says:

      The benefits outweigh the risks, just like aspirin.

      FYI:
      8 oz cup of coffee has 95 mg of caffeine.
      1 tbsp of cacao only has 12 mg.

    • Plant Sugar says:

      Yes, coffee is probably a lot more worse than chocoloate.
      Well I don’t want to eat something that contains caffeine nor theobromine. There are not enough studies to show the true health effect of chocolate as Dr. Greger states at the end of the video. It would be nice to see more studies on how stimulants affect the human body long term. Chocolate is a stimulant – I don’t think any nutritional doctor would disagree with that.

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  • childresslondon says:

    There are people who are allergic to chocolate as well as some who don’t like it. They would be perfect subjects for a long term study on those who don’t eat chocolate. I’m surprised the researchers have not tapped into this resource.

    • Irony Itch says:

      I personally dislike child labour involved in production of cocoa. This issue has not been properly addressed internationally and it definitely diminishes my appetite for chocolate. There might be people out there deliberately avoiding chocolate products (in addition to those allergic, because those allergic are somehow different than those not allergic, so not an ideal control group), though some producers have started limited campaigns of being able to trace the origins of their cocoa and making sure children are not involved in production.

    • NENITA ONTOG says:

      Mj

  • Bruce Wayne says:

    Hello Doctor Gregor, I have a request for you. You seem to provide great information on nutrition using scientific evidence. Can you please make a video on how much protein we need in our diet everyday to build muscle at an optimal rate? Also, how should someone eat as a vegan to ensure that he is getting ample protein a day to facilitate muscle hypertrophy? Thanks in advance.

  • FemaleObserver says:

    i just love dr. Greger’s videos!!!

    • WEBTRIP_STORE_ ON INSTAGRAM says:

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  • London Bless says:

    For anyone who’s wondering, Deep Fried Mars Bars are life ♥♥♥… until it kills you.

    But seriously, they taste delicious but make you feel sick for like an hour.

  • Frankiez220 says:

    I used to eat deep fried pizza with chips and brown sauce regularly from the chippy when I grew up in Scotland. I didn’t know any better. It’s so important to teach out children good nutrition

  • I'm Not Using My Real Name says:

    My mom eats the most bitter dark chocolate ever. So that’s healthy at least.

    • WEBTRIP_STORE_ ON INSTAGRAM says:

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    • Grandpa Павлески says:

      But it has saturated fat

    • I'm Not Using My Real Name says:

      @Grandpa Павлески She eats 99% cocoa chocolate. It’s basically sintered cocoa powder.

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  • etmax1 says:

    I’m going to throw the cat among the pigeons here and suggest that the chocolate’s action is related to the theobromine. It kills dogs though internal bleeding because it weakens their blood vessels. If it weakens ours but not enough to cause bleeding then maybe (just maybe) it’s possible that long term it causes hardening. I say this for 2 reasons, first I get leg cramps if I eat dark chocolate, and second dark chocolate is the only high fat thing I consume and jet have needed a quad bypass. Anyhow, all I want to do is add to the information base upon which conclusions are drawn.

    • 19jacobob93 says:

      Interesting point! We do metabolise theobromine a lot faster than domestic animals though so it doesn’t really affect humans unless in much greater quantities.
      Still you have me questioning it!

    • Lis Engel says:

      It sounds a bit like my story – I went more and more low fat vegan and then I started being addicted to dark chocolate eating it everyday – and I also starting getting leg cramps, but of course we are not satisfied with anecdotes we like double, blind randomized evidence based research so maybe someone could design a new research and put it to the test. ( and I will continue my personal case study trying to stop eating chocolate for two weeks and see if it makes a difference 😀🍀💚🐸

    • WEBTRIP_STORE_ ON INSTAGRAM says:

      ☝️☝️look up that handle, a mycologist, he sells shrooms,dmt, ayahuasca,lsd,mmda,psilocybin,infused chocolate bars,he’s got alot🍄💊🍫🔌and ships swiftly

  • disky says:

    These videos are so fascinating. Thank you!

  • A.I. says:

    Can’t go wrong with Oats with Cocoa, Cinnamon and Blueberries.

  • MakeMeThinkAgain says:

    Here’s a simple experiment anyone can conduct on their own: measure your blood pressure at the same time each day following the same routine (like sit for a half hour before the test) and don’t eat dark chocolate during this period. Then continue to take your blood pressure, but eat a square or two of 85% cacao chocolate at least 2 hours before.

    I think you will find a significant drop in your blood pressure after eating the chocolate.

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