Can chocolate lower your risk of stroke?

A review article suggests that eating chocolate may lower the risk of having a stroke or boosting your survival chance when a stroke occurs.

The findings were released today and scheduled to be presented at American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.

The review, however, involved only three studies on chocolate and stroke.

Dark chocolate, not milk chocolate, contains high amounts of antioxidants called flavonoids that are known to be protective against cardiovascular disease like heart disease, heart attack and stroke. 

One study of 44,489 people showed that those who ate one serving of chocolate per week were 22 percent less likely to have a stroke than those who did not eat any chocolate.

The second study found that people who ate 50 grams of chocolate once a week were 46 percent less likely to die from a stroke than people who did not eat chocolate.

But the third study found no association between eating chocolate and risk of stroke or death.

Sarah Sahib, BScCA, author of the study, at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada acknowledged that "More research is needed to determine whether chocolate truly lowers stroke risk, or whether healthier people are simply more likely to eat chocolate than others."

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and it strikes 795,000 people and kills about 137,000 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC advises that to prevent stroke, one should follow a healthy diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber; maintain a healthy weight, be active and don't smoke.

David Liu and editing by Denise Reynolds