Harvard Study Links Candy to Longer Life
| May/June 1999
After years of thinking what tastes good must be bad for you, people can take heart from a new study by professors at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Subjects in the study who ate candy lived almost a year longer than those who didn't eat any candy. In the Feb. 12 issue of Around the School, the newsletter for Harvard School of Public Health, I-Min Lee, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the school's Department of Epidemiology, says "there hasn't been a lot of research to explain why [candy] must be unhealthy. We decided to investigate whether candy consumption was associated with longevity." The subjects used were from the Harvard alumni health study, an ongoing study of men entering Harvard University as undergraduates between 1916 and 1950. The authors included 7,841 men, free of cardiovascular disease and cancer, who responded to a health survey in 1988 providing information on the candy they ate. The study did not differentiate between consumption of sugar candy and chocolate. After adjusting for age, physical activity, smoking and other health habits, the authors found those who ate candy one to three times a month lived almost a year longer (up to age 95) than those who ate none. Those who ate greater amounts of candy saw less of a longevity advantage, but non-consumers of candy still had the highest mortality overall. In their study, the authors say the presence of antioxidant phenols in chocolate could be a plausible explanation for their observations. "A 41-gram piece of chocolate contains about the same amount of phenol as a glass of red wine, and alcohol consumption, in moderation, lowers the risk of coronary heart disease." The authors go on to say there is direct evidence of the antioxidant properties of chocolate. "Cacao liquor phenol can inhibit reactive oxygen species, as well as modulate immune function. Additionally, cacao powder extract is a powerful antioxidant for oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol." They conclude these beneficial effects of chocolate may lower people's risk of heart disease and cancer. While warning that candy has adverse effects if not balanced with physical activity, Lee told Around the School, "What this study shows is that if you balance your candy eating with appropriate amounts of exercise, then candy may not be all bad." |
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