Chocolate has health benefits, in small quantities and if it’s dark chocolate. New research appearing in the European Heart Journal indicates that one small square of chocolate daily can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Researchers in Germany surveyed over 19,000 people and found that those who ate the most amount of chocolate had lower blood pressure and a 39 percent lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke compared to those who consumed less chocolate.
“Small amounts of chocolate may help to prevent heart disease, but only if it replaces other energy-dense food, such as snacks, in order to keep body weight stable,” says Brian Buijsse, M.D., a nutritional epidemiologist at the German Institute of Human Nutrition.
Flavonols in cocoa may be the ingredient in chocolate which produces the beneficial effect on blood pressure and heart health. Because there is a greater amount of cocoa in dark chocolate, dark chocolate may have an increased health benefit.
Health benefits of chocolate:
• Lowers blood pressure.
• Increases endorphin production which improves mood.
• The serotonin content in chocolate regulates sleep and acts as an anti-depressant.
• Reduces LDL cholesterol, or bad cholesterol.
Flavonols may improve heart health by increasing the availability of nitric oxide from cells that line the blood vessel walls. Nitric oxide causes the muscle cells of the blood vessels to relax and widen, which can contribute to lower blood pressure.
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Dont forget the health benefits of red wine too! Our two greatest pleasures – red wine and chocolate – who knew?!!
Here is some more good news — some of the fats in chocolate do not impact your cholesterol. The fats in chocolate are 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid:
Oleic Acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is also found in olive oil.
Stearic Acid is a saturated fat but one which research is shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol.
Palmitic Acid is also a saturated fat, one which raises cholesterol and heart disease risk.
That means only 1/3 of the fat in dark chocolate is bad for you
Cheers,
Lex
Great article . you are right on. I have a health background over 30 years, also written articles on cleansing. Been marketing this low heat, cold pressed chocolate, yummy , guilt free chocolate Xocai. have you heard of this. if so, what do you know about it? Would love to connect. Much to share.
In health and Chocolate Bliss
Sunwolf
Wow that’s awesome news; I’m a chocoholic for sure, and I already eat quite a bit of chocolate; I love the taste of dark chocolate, it’s still chocolatey but has a bitter back taste to it. I love to cook and blog about chocolate and recipes containing chocolate as well; knowing that dark chocolate actually has some health benefits will cause me to use a lot more of it versus regular milk chocolate in the future. Thanks for the info!
Dark chocolate is my favorite kind of chocolate. Chocolates have some natural antioxidants too.*:*
im not sure what to believe re chocolate anymore. All I know is it tastes great and if we follow the principal that most things are ok in moderation, then we can’t go too wrong I think.
I just know chocolate can lower blood pressure. Amazing!!
Thats all good i love dark chocolate and wont feel so bad when i eat it.
Chocolate Is Always My Fav One. I am happy to know its Befits.
but tends to increase weight ..
Chocolate has a lot of benefits, but i wanna add one point:
Chocolate helps in weight loss, maybe it sounds weird, but chocolate can really help you in weight loss.
I’ve heard that chocolate can stimulate some hormon that can make our mind more relax..?
i love to eat dark chocolate because it is very tasty and it is full of antioxidants too’*~
You make many good points. Blood pressure and hypertension have been interests of mine for a long time, and I think that a balanced holistic approach is overall the most promising. You have to eat healthy, exercise, and regularly watch your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and then things should be not too hard.
my favorite is always Dark Chocolate, i do not like Milk Chocolate coz it is too sweet for my taste”",
awesome, I just knew that turns brown much benefit in our health. Thank you for article.