Heart Saving Chocolate Undergoes Testing

We have all heard that dark chocolate and bars of pure cacao can actually be good for you. In-fact, past scientific studies have even backed these rumors, providing evidence that  dark chocolate protects the heart by ensuring the flexibility of arteries. Now, a new major clinical study will look into just how much cocoa flavanols -- compounds found in chocolate that are suspected to be behind the sweet's positive attributes -- actually help a person.

Birgham and Women's Hospital researchers will soon be leading a massive five-year study looking into the effectiveness of multivitamins and multivitamins. One portion of the study will be looking into cocoa flavonols exclusively, hoping to determine once and for all if the compound really can reduce the risk of heart disease, heat attack, and stroke related deaths in approximately 18,000 healthy people across  the United States.

Other portions of the study will be looking into whether taking a daily multivitamin can actually help people avoid cancer and whether fish oil and vitamin D supplements help prevent some degenerative conditions in people over the age of 60.

The $20 million study was almost entirely funded by the vitamin and supplement industry, who remain confident that the study will yield some positive results.

Still, a study almost entirely funded by industries counting on favorable results has raised some eyebrows in the scientific communities. In one of the largest surprises, Mars Inc., a leading U.S. and world chocolate manufacturer, has agreed to donate the cocoa extract capsules and funds needed for the experiments. This indicates that Mars has high hopes for positive results, but critics are concerned that a sense of obligation to Mars might help skew the study's data in favor of the company's interests.

Still, the researchers have assured media outlets and scientific organizations that industry representatives will have no input on the study design, nor will they have access to the study's report until after results have been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

The participants involved will be randomly selected from a predetermined list. Some older women who participated in the Woman's Health Initiative trials earlier this year will also be submitted to further testing.

The study expects to have concluded the study and determined results by 2019.

Details concerning this study wererevealed in a press release on Monday, March 17.

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