Sweets in moderation may be good for you

There is a widespread belief that anything which tastes good must be bad for you. However, on p 1683 Lee and Paffenbarger point out that people have been consuming candy for many centuries. They followed a cohort of Harvard alumni for five years and found that those who ate candy were likely to live significantly longer than non-consumers, after correcting for other health risks. Mortality was lowest in those who consumed candy 1-3 times a month and rose in more frequent consumers. The authors could not differentiate between sugar confectionery and chocolate in this study, and propose the antioxidant properties of chocolate as a plausible explanation for the effect.


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Relevant Article

Life is sweet: candy consumption and longevity
I-Min Lee and Ralph S Paffenbarger, Jr
BMJ 1998 317: 1683-1684. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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