Do you wanna reduce your blood pressure?!
Question:
Do you wanna reduce your blood pressure?
... if so eat a piece of Dark Chocolate each day! Dunno if it works though, just heard about it in a recent news bulletin on the radio
Answers:
researchers at Tufts University have now said that dark chocolate may lower blood pressure by an average of ten percent and improve the body's sensitivity to insulin.
These benefits, though, only apply to dark chocolate, which is rich in antioxidant flavonoids. The same antioxidants are found in fruit and red wine. Milk chocolate and white chocolate, which are flavonoid free, do not yield the same beneficial qualities.
"Previous studies suggest flavonoid-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables, tea, red wine and chocolate, might offer cardiovascular benefits, but this is one of the first clinical trials to look specifically at dark chocolate's effect on lowering blood pressure among people with hypertension," said Jeffrey Blumberg, who led the study published in July 18 online edition of Hypertension.
The study found that three ounces of dark chocolate per day for several weeks reduced blood pressure in patients with "essential hypertension" while also having a positive effect on insulin sensitivity.
Blumberg cautioned that the results did not give license to add more high-calorie, high sugar, high fat chocolate to their diets.
"This study is not about eating more chocolate," he said. "It suggests that cocoa flavonoids appear to have benefits on vascular function and glucose sensitivity."
It was suggested that dark chocolate could be added to an overall healthful diet without upping caloric intake.
In the study, Blumberg's team gave 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate or white chocolate every day to 10 men and 10 women for 15 days. All subjects had high blood pressure and were not on blood pressure medication.