Blood Pressure, Hypertension and Healthy Dark Chocolate
Can you believe that healthy, dark chocolate can help with hypertension? A study about Blood Pressure, Hypertension and Healthy Dark Chocolate published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2003 reported that Healthy Dark Chocolate may also lower your Blood Pressure and reduce Hypertension. Dr Steve Warren took an hour of questions about Xocai and dark chocolate at a live event a few weeks ago. This is a question about Xocai and blood pressure:
Research
Researchers at the University of Cologne studied men and women who were recently diagnosed with mild high blood pressure.
Half were given 100g (about 3.5 ounces) of dark chocolate per day and half were given white chocolate. After only two weeks systolic blood pressure decreased on average by five points and diastolic blood pressure by two points in those consuming dark chocolate, but not those consuming white chocolate.
Blood pressure and insulin
In a similar study researchers from Italy reported in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension that 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate for one week lowered systolic blood pressure by 12 points and diastolic blood pressure by 8.5 points when blood pressure was monitored continuously for 24 hours.
Insulin sensitivity and LDL cholesterol also improved. No benefits were seen with white chocolate. Another study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that chocolate may help repair damage to smokers' blood vessels, at least temporarily.
Why?
Chocolate increases your body's production of nitric oxide, a powerful substance that causes your blood vessels to relax and dilate. This, in turn, causes an increase in blood flow and a decrease in blood pressure—like opening a water spigot.
A study published in July in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that just 30 calories per day of dark chocolate lowered blood pressure and increased nitric oxide production after 18 weeks.
Testimonial From Jan N., Richardson TX: “Lowered blood pressure and raised HDL!
Shortly before we started eating dark chocolate with acai, I had a physical, so knew what my blood work was like. A month and a half later, I went back to have another blood test. At the doctor’s office, I was amazed that my normal readings for blood pressure had dropped by 22 points systolic and 15 points diastolic. My HDL was also raised by 8 points - the highest I can ever remember!
Lowered Insulin Requirement!
I had already seen what happened when my husband, Dick, started on the chocolate. First of all, he is a Type I diabetic. For the first 6 days, he didn’t even have to take any insulin. Later, he did have to get back on some insulin, but it is less than half what he used to take. As a diabetic, he was so excited to be able to have “sweets”. What a treat to be able to eat chocolate that tastes so wonderful, and still know that it is helping your health.
We are so thankful to have found out about dark chocolate with acai!”
Thanks for sharing, Jan!
Heart Attack Risk & Healthy Dark Chocolate
Healthy, Dark Chocolate may lower HEART ATTACK RISKS according to a new U.S. study which fulfills the dreams of chocoholics everywhere. In a study of aspirin's effect on blood clotting in which abstinence from chocolate was required, a large proportion of participants broke the rules.
Their 'offence' led to what is believed to be the first biochemical evidence that a few squares of chocolate a day can almost halve the risk of heart attack death by decreasing the tendency of platelets to clot in narrow blood vessels.
Heart health benefits of dark chocolate to reduce Hearth Attack Risk.
More research has underlined the Heart Health benefits of dark chocolate, shown in a Greek study to improve healthy blood flow and Dr Charalambos Vlachopoulos of the Hippokratian Hospital at the University of Athens told the conference that eating 100 grams of dark chocolate improved blood vessel function in healthy young adults for at least three hours.
The research backs the findings of a US team, published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, who also reported increased dilation of blood vessels, reducing the chances of clots forming. Blood clots can cause thrombosis, stroke and heart attack.
The study involved 17 volunteers who ate either 100 grams of dark chocolate or a non-chocolate substitute. On another day the groups were swapped over.
The results showed that functioning of the endothelium, a thin layer covering the innermost surface of blood vessels was IMPROVED in the dark chocolate group but not in the group that ate the chocolate substitute.
"Ingestion of dark chocolate rich in cocoa flavonoids is associated with an acute beneficial effect on endothelial performance of healthy subjects. This finding provides further insights into the favorable effects of chocolate into the cardiovascular system," said the researchers.