March 31st, 2010
Scientists continue to discover ways that dark chocolate is good for us. The latest study reveals that just a quarter of an ounce of chocolate each day could lower your risk of having a stroke or heart attack! Dark chocolate is the best choice for this benefit. Read more about this new study at CNN: Daily chocolate may keep the heart doctor away.
Dark chocolate works in mysterious ways. If you’re feeling stressed, eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate each day could reduce stress hormones in your body.
.
Last year, a dark chocolate study ACS Journal of Proteome Research took a scientific look at the stress-reducing power of dark chocolate. The results: eating about one and a half ounces of dark chocolate each day for two weeks lowered levels of stress hormones in people feeling highly stressed. In addition, researchers note that dark chocolate partially corrected different stress-related biochemical imbalances.
If you like white or milk chocolate instead of dark, are you out of luck?
Perhaps. A previous study on dark chocolate (conducted by Dr. Dirk Taubert and published in The Journal of the American Medical Association) indicates it’s also good for lowering blood pressure, but the same benefit wasn’t found with white or milk chocolate. The cocoa phenols in dark chocolate are believed to be responsible for its blood-pressure-lowering effect.
As with all things, dark chocolate in moderation is better. Remember, it’s not free of fat or calories. You shouldn’t reach for dark chocolate instead of a banana, but if you need a small treat, it’s nice to know that dark chocolate is around with its stress-relieving, stroke-preventing and blood-pressure-lowering love.
If you’re unsure of adding dark chocolate to your diet, speak with your doctor about your particular health conditions. Don’t stop taking your meds for chocolate.
(Image via flickr/heliosphan)
Filed under Healthy You | Comment (0)
