Dark Chocolate May Sweeten the Way to Health

Dark chocolate isn’t a health food, but eating it appears to bring down blood pressure in people with hypertension, researchers said yesterday.

Dark chocolate can be included as part of a healthful diet in patients who have hypertension.

The researchers, writing in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, are not urging people with high blood pressure to run out to the nearest chocolate shop but delicious dark chocolate may be the exception to the rule.

The researchers are more interested in a component of the chocolate called flavonoids, which have been shown to have health benefits. In addition they reported that to all the pleasurable sensations associated with the sweet, it may also help lower blood pressure by an average of 10 percent while improving the body’s sensitivity to insulin.

Beyond that, the researchers said, high-fat, high-calorie foods like chocolate should be eaten in moderation.

One senior author was Dr. Claudio Ferri who conducted the research on 20 volunteers took part in the study. After being asked to avoid all chocolate for a week, half were given dark chocolate, which is high in flavonoids, and half were given white chocolate, which has no flavonoids.

Both groups then went through a second chocolate-free week, and then switched diets.

Katz, who is doing his own research into the benefits of chocolate, noted that chocolate is rich in not only antioxidants, but also magnesium and fiber. He added “The predominant saturated fat in dark chocolate, stearic acid, does not raise cholesterol or harm blood
vessels,”

According to Katz, there are many unanswered questions about chocolate: What is the optimal dose of dark chocolate? How high does the cocoa content need to be to offer health benefits? Who in the population stands to benefit from eating dark chocolate? Are the benefits of liquid cocoa and solid chocolate the same? Can people eat chocolate without gaining weight?

Katz said,” these answers, and others, will come in time, “but now it is clear that not all chocolate is created equal. But it’s delicious to think that indulgence and health may both reside beneath the same wrapper.”

Dr. Jeffrey Mechanick,said “Chocolate is not an alternative to traditional lifestyle changes or to taking medications to reduce risk of heart disease or to treat diabetes,”

He said, “My preference is that you have dark chocolate, because it’s looking like maybe dark chocolate may have some benefit. But there are no data to support that it’s truly beneficial. It’s still unproven that it’s beneficial and there could be risks involved.”