SubscribeHigh Blood Pressure: Forget Pills, Eat Chocolate
I love peer-reviewed journal articles. There are so many of them. If you search hard enough you're sure to find something positive about your favorite nutritional vice.
Perhaps reading something positive about what you're eating has a placebo affect. Your brain tells you it's good for you - so your body follows suit. Wine, coffee, chocolate, full-fat dairy... just take your pick.
My vice is dark chocolate.
Fortunately for me, a recent review of research compared the impact of cocoa and tea on blood pressure and found that dark chocolate may lower blood pressure.
Four of the five studies on chocolate found reduced blood pressure after eating, but none of the tea studies showed significant benefit. The magnitude of the effect of eating three and a half ounces of dark chocolate a day was clinically significant, comparable to that of beta-blockers like atenolol, known by the brand name Tenormin, or propranolol, known as Inderal.
After a quick calculation I see that 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate also equates to around 500 calories. Also the study authors claim "that the studies were short and that results may not apply to habitual use."
I think we'll just ignore that last bit. Time to get back to my habitual dark chocolate eating.
Wait long enough and you can find justification for everything!
ReplyI enjoy .5 ounces of dark (75-85%) chocolate on a daily basis. It works very well at lowering my blood pressure because I actually take it out of my usual stressful environment to eat it and I savour each and every second of it.
Now that's good stress relief.
ReplyI'm more of a cocoa drinker than chocolate eater. I like to eat 1 or 2oz chocolate once a week or so, but to me, when I'm stressed or depressed there is nothing like a cup of cocoa.
ReplyThis got me thinking about healthy chocolate. Remember, it doesn't come from the tree with sugar already in it. And it can be used in cuisine without the addition of sugar.
For instance, in mole sauce:
http://www.ramekins.com/mole/molepoblano4.html
And historically, from Wikipedia:
Reply"Chocolate was created by the Mesoamerican civilization, from cacao beans, and cultivated by pre-Columbian civilizations such as the Maya and Aztec, who used it as a basic component in a variety of sauces and beverages. The cocoa beans were ground and mixed with water to produce a variety of beverages, both sweet and bitter, which were reserved for only the highest noblemen and clerics of the Mesoamerican world."
Yep. I love Dark Chocolate. Love it. When I was a kid, I would sneak bites of my mother's baking chocolate. Man would she get pissed!!
ReplyIf only I had high blood pressure then I'd have an excuse to indulge LOL, but my blood pressure is disgustingly healthy. Truth be told I find dark chocolate too strong to eat in any major quantity, but the article is interesting. Thanks Jim
ReplyThat's great. Now I can add another reason why I eat dark chocolate. Yes I eat dark chocolate, but in moderation of course. No matter how healthy it is, eating too much is definitely not good.
Replyinteresting. The chocolate is what I'm after usually not the sugar. A Hersey's bar doesn't really taste good, too sweet. Garden of Life makes roasted cocoa beans with hazelnuts and just a little sugar to taste. Mmmmm...just right. Kind of messy because it's a little bag of crumbles but well worth it.
ReplyI think a little dark chocolate wouldn't hurt. A small amount of dark chocolate is enough for me. Besides, I also find it too strong in large quantity.
ReplyI think that's the beauty of dark chocolate; a little goes a long way. Not only is a square or two satisfying, but it would be tricky to binge on it.
ReplyI think for any type of nutritional vice, regardless of the benefits, moderation is key.
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