Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure

A small study has recently found that dark chocolate could benefit people with hypertension. It proved that eating half a bar of dark chocolate daily could lower blood pressure.

Dark chocolate had previously shown signs of reducing the overall risk of heart disease, but this study was the first to find how dark chocolate links to blood pressure. The American Heart Association states that 33% of the adult population in the U.S. have a higher than normal blood pressure, with 1/3 of these not even knowing it.

Dark chocolate appears to influence blood pressure due to the compounds, called flavonoids, that it contains. Flavonoids are usually found in certain fruit, vegetables, teas and red wines and they are already known to have antioxidant properties that prevent cellular damage.

The small study, conducted by researchers from Tufts University and the University of L'Aquila in Italy, observed 20 people, aged around 43, with systolic blood pressure measuring 140-159 and diastolic blood pressure between 90 and 99. A normal reading of blood pressure, for healthy adults, would be 120 systolic and 80 diastolic. The participants didn’t have other health problems and were not smokers or consumers of alcohol.

First, chocolate was forbidden to all participants for a week. Then, 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate (half a bar) was given daily to one group, and the white variety, which contains no cocoa and no flavonoids, was given in the same amount, to the other group. After one week, chocolate was banned for another week and then the groups consumed whichever type they hadn’t already eaten, for one more week. All subjects wore mobile blood pressure monitors all day long and were instructed to maintain their normal activity level and to pay attention to their diet, because of chocolate’s high calories.

The before-and-after blood pressure readings indicated that, for the dark chocolate group, systolic blood pressure dropped 12 points and diastolic blood pressure, 8.5 points, while in the white chocolate group no improvements were seen. A 10% decrease in LDL ("bad cholesterol") was also noted in those who ate dark chocolate, with no change observed in the white chocolate group.

However, the findings, published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association, do not mean to suggest that dark chocolate should be used as replacement for a healthy diet, exercise or, in some cases, medication, in order to keep blood pressure low, the researchers say.

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