CHICAGO
Here’s some good and bad news for chocoholics: Dark chocolate
seems to lower blood pressure, but it requires an amount less than two
Hershey’s Kisses to do it, a small study suggests. The new research from Germany
adds to mounting evidence linking dark chocolate with health benefits, but it’s
the first to suggest that just a tiny amount may suffice.
Volunteers for the study ate just over 6 grams of dark
chocolate daily for almost five months one square from a German chocolate bar
called Ritter Sport, equal to about 1 1/2 Hershey’s Kisses. People who ate that
amount ended up with lower blood pressure readings than those who ate white
chocolate.
University of Cologne
researcher Dr. Dirk Taubert, the study’s lead author, said the blood pressure
reductions with dark chocolate were small but still substantial enough to
potentially reduce cardiovascular disease risks, although study volunteers
weren’t followed long enough to measure that effect.
The research involved just 44 people aged 56 through 73, but
the results echo other small studies of cocoa-containing foods. Cocoa
contains flavanols, plant-based compounds that also are credited with giving
red wine its heart-healthy benefits.
One problem is chocolate bars containing cocoa tend to have
lots of calories, so Taubert and his colleagues tested small amounts containing
just 30 calories each.
The study appears in Wednesday’s Journal of the American
Medical Association. It was funded by University
Hospital in Cologne.
