Lower Blood Pressure
With Chocolate?

The news that "eating chocolate can lower blood pressure” is surely music to the ears of many people...

Together with reports that garlic, wine and even other alcoholic drinks may also be good for the heart makes this a hopeful time indeed for indulgent but health-minded pleasure seekers.

German chocolate is good…

The health benefits of chocolate have been touted for ages but large-scale scientific studies now give the claims some much-needed credibility. German researchers followed nearly 20,000 people over more than 10 years and found that chocolate eaters not only had lower blood pressure but also a 39% lower risk of heart attack.

For those with the higher chocolate habit blood pressure averaged around 3 points systolic and 2 points diastolic lower than that of chocolate abstainers. This reduction may seem insignificant but over time it amounts to a significantly lower risk of heart attack and stroke.

What’s more, this amount of protection was achieved through just 6 grams of chocolate per day. That’s just a single square from a large (100g/3.5oz) bar.

Italian chocolate is good too…

An earlier study in Italy revealed major reductions in blood pressure from chocolate averaging 12 points systolic and 8.5 points diastolic. Participants in this study, however, consumed much higher amounts of about 100 grams of chocolate. In terms of calories, fat and sugar content this is an impractical and possibly even unhealthy amount for many people.

Most experts believe that the benefits from eating chocolate are due to powerful anti-oxidants found in cocoa called flavanols. Flavanols seem to stimulate production of nitric oxide in our cells, which plays a vital role in regulating blood pressure by expanding and constricting blood vessels.

But dark chocolate is best of all…

Since flavanols are only available in pure cocoa, the darker and more dense the chocolate, the more effective it is. In fact, only dark chocolate with cocoa content of at least 70% should be considered practical for reducing blood pressure. Other types such as white chocolate and milk chocolate have been tested and found to offer negligible benefits.

Not only does high-density, dark chocolate increase cocoa and therefore flavanol content, it also minimizes the amount of fat, sugar and calories consumed. Six grams of high-quality chocolate contain only about 30 calories, an amount that most people can easily fit into a healthy diet.

Eating chocolate, sadly enough, cannot by itself be considered an effective remedy for lower blood pressure. But the secrets it may hold have exciting potential for much greater benefits. The Kuna Indians of Panama, for example, make a fascinating case study. Is the large amount of cocoa in their diet the reason for their extremely low rates of heart disease and diabetes? Scientists hope to find out.

No killjoys please!

For the time being, chocolate can surely be part of a healthy diet that, along with other measures, helps to reduce blood pressure and protect us from heart disease. Of course doctors warn that you must use restraint and compensate for the sugar and extra calories elsewhere in your diet. But they would now, wouldn’t they? Is there no longer any unadulterated pleasure to be had without a health warning? After all, an effective dose is only 30 calories!

And if you enjoy a spot of wine with your chocolate (or any other time you wish) you can now do that guilt-free as well. A recent study from Spain reveals that eating chocolate is also good for the liver, even helping to prevent damage from cirrhosis and other diseases of the liver.

To aid digestion abdominal blood pressure increases after eating. Unfortunately, this rise also increases the damage done by liver disease. A post-prandial chocolate, however, helps to relieve this high abdominal blood pressure and thus limits the ravages of disease.

It’s reassuring to know that in these days of food fears, health warnings and nutritional nightmares, one of our oldest and most natural indulgences – chocolate – is actually good for you! Let’s have more of that!

Click here to discover a simple lifestyle technique for significantly lower blood pressure that you can combine with a healthy diet (including chocolate, of course!).