Eat chocolate to lower cholesterol!

It could have jolly well found a place in Ripley’s believe it or not! According to a new study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrition, eating chocolate bars daily reduces your total cholesterol level by two per cent, and the levels of LDL (or bad cholesterol) by no less than 5.3%!
John Erdman, Professor of Food Sciences and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois conducted a study using a particular brand of chocolates called CocoVia and found that eating two dark chocolate CocoVia bars significantly reduced the cholesterol levels as well as the systolic blood pressure. The chocolate bars contained plant sterols and flavanols that led to this positive effect of chocolates.
However, what makes expert view the study results with slight suspicion is the fact that it was partly sponsored by Mars Inc, the company that makes these chocolate bars! Erdman is also the chairman of the Mars Scientific Advisory council. However, he has rubbished claims of partiality and bias in the study with the logic that it was published in Nutrition, one of the best and most well-known peer-reviewed biological science journals.
But that is not enough, because the authenticity of industry-sponsored research being published in peer-reviewed journals has been a raging controversy for years now. The tobacco industry being the biggest culprit and/or sufferer! An interesting debate can be read in the following BMJ article where two editors fight it out for and against publishing sponsored research papers in peer-reviewed journals.
But till you arrive at a conclusion, enjoy your bar of chocolate and brush well before you go to bed!