Wednesday 5 December 2012

Does Dark Chocolate Lower Blood Pressure?


Dark chocolate has been found to have beneficial effects in reducing blood pressure. High blood pressure, also referred to as hypertension, is very common condition in today's society. In fact, about 76.4 million American adults have been diagnosed with hypertension.

Dark chocolate is believed to help lower blood pressure by a natural ingredient it contains called flavonoids. These are naturally occurring substances that are a type of antioxidant and have various health benefits that have a positive effect on vascular health. These include helping to reduce blood pressure, increase blood flow to the heart and the brain, as well as reducing cholesterol levels in the body.

The main type of flavonoids found in cocoa and chocolate is known as flavenol. These flavonoids are naturally found in the skin of a cocoa bean. Chocolate is classified as 'dark' due to the higher amount of cocoa it contains in the final product. The more cocoa there is in the product, the greater the flavonoid content is. It is in fact the flavonoids that are responsible for giving cocoa and dark chocolate its strong flavor.

On the other hand, when cocoa beans are processed and ingredients are added to chocolate, the calorie and fat content rises, and the level of flavonoids drops. This is because this processing of the chocolate destroys most of the flavonoid content as a result of chemical changes and temperature. That is why milk chocolate, white chocolate and other chocolate varieties do not offer the same health benefits that can be obtained from consuming dark chocolate. Additionally, dark chocolate that has undergone Dutch processing, which involves the cocoa being treated with an alkali that neutralizes the natural acidity of the chocolate, also eliminates some of the beneficial antioxidant content of cocoa.

Flavonoids found in dark chocolate work in two main ways to help lower blood pressure. Firstly, they inhibit platelets from sticking together, which prevents them from forming clots in vessels. Clots have the propensity to block blood vessels and impair the flow of blood through vessels. This contributes to an increase in the pressure inside the vessels. Flavonoids also have the effect of helping to keep the arteries dilated by helping to relax the smooth muscles of the artery walls. Dilated arteries assist with smooth and unobstructed flow of blood through the blood vessels. On the other hand, when arteries are constricted, they tend to block flow, raising the amount of pressure in the arteries.

There have been studies that have shown the effects of dark chocolate in lowering blood pressure. A 2010 study that was undertaken at Adelaide University in Australia revealed that dark chocolate can reduce blood pressure in people who have hypertension, but not in people who have normal blood pressure.

So it can be seen that some people with hypertension can lower their blood pressure by consuming dark chocolate. This is because of the flavonoid content that is retained in dark chocolate. This natural ingredient has antioxidant effects and acts on blood vessels to help reduce blood pressure.