A Bite of Chocolate a Day May Keep Blood Pressure at Bay

chocolate

There’s more good news for chocolate lovers: The antioxidants in dark chocolate can help slightly lower blood pressure.

But the good news comes with a caveat: The chocolate portions have to be limited to 30 calories a day, which works out to slightly more than one Hershey’s Kiss.

Such small amounts of the flavanol-rich cocoa found in dark chocolate may be a promising approach to lowering blood pressure in individuals with above-optimal blood pressure, a new German study suggests. Dark chocolate may increase levels of nitric oxide, a compound that helps to relax and open the blood vessels.

Too Much of a Good Thing
Unfortunately more is not better in this case. Higher quantities of chocolate won’t work, the researchers say, because the potential benefit could be offset by the high sugar, fat and calories associated with the cocoa products.

Look for dark chocolate that has cocoa content higher than 50 percent, but be careful about consuming dark chocolate if you’re sensitive to caffeine’s effects because the caffeine content is higher than in milk chocolate.

Chocolate Tidbits

When you see a cacao percentage on chocolate packaging, it means the product contains that specific percentage of pure, unadulterated, straight-from-the-bean ingredients. Higher cacao percentages result in less sweet, more intense chocolate flavor that defines premium dark chocolate. Meanwhile, lower cacao percentages lead to a rich creamy flavor combination that can be found in premium milk chocolate. 

For example, a 72 percent cacao dark chocolate has less sugar than a 60 percent cacao dark chocolate. And for those who bake: Unsweetened baking chocolate is a 100 percent cacao product with no sugar.

-- Source: Health Day News

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