Chocolate and Heart Disease -eating chocolate is good for your
heart!
If you love chocolate then
perhaps there is reason to rejoice. More and more medical
studies are suggesting that eating chocolate is good for your
heart. There are some studies that even suggest chocolate is
every bit as effective as aspirin in both its ability to reduce
blood clots as well preventing heart attacks.
Dark chocolate - bio flavonoids - heart
disease
For the past 20 years it has
long been recognized by research scientists that dark chocolate
is rich in a chemical known as flavonoid and it is this
ingredient that is instrumental in lowering blood pressure as
well as increasing blood flow from the heart to the brain. So
it is dark chocolate and not milk chocolate that has shown to
have a beneficial affect on health. It is due to the
manufacturing process of dark chocolate that dark chocolate has
much higher levels of flavonoids in it than milk chocolate or
any other form of chocolate.
Flavonoids
Flavonoids contain a compound known as
epicatechin and this accounts for its ability to prevent
cholesterol from building up in the blood vessels and also
helps to decrease the responses from the immune system that can
then lead to the clogging of arteries.
Earlier
studies into the benefits of dark chocolate indicated that a
great deal of chocolate would have to be eaten daily to reap
any health benefits to the heart. Now researchers are saying
that a few small pieces of dark chocolate (equal to a few
squares from a bar of chocolate) are sufficient to show
benefits.
Researchers have found that it is the
chemical found in the cocoa bean that has a "biochemical
effect" behaving in a way very similar to the affect aspirin
has in reducing the clumping of platelets in the blood. This
clumping can prove deadly if a clot forms and then narrows or
even worse, completely blocks a blood vessel, leading to a
heart attack.
Some
studies suggest that it is advisable to consume two tablespoons
of dark chocolate each day to effectively benefit from the
 "heart healthy" effects of eating dark
chocolate. The best kind to eat would be the purest form
such as dried extract of roasted cocoa beans. If that is
not for you then a small bar of chocolate of approximately
1.6 ounces is another to keep your heart and your blood
vessels functioning at their optimum best. One example of
a dark chocolate is the 'Dove Dark Chocolate bar' which is
full of high-cocoa content, which also means it is loaded
with flavonoids.
However
it should be remembered that all chocolate is not the same and
therefore not all equally good for your heart. Dark chocolate
contains more cocoa that any other form of chocolate. Before
this revelation about chocolate was discovered, chocolate
manufacturers used to destroy over half of the flavonoids in
the cocoa during the manufacturing process. Today companies are
wiser about such things and have developed new manufacturing
methods resulting in dark chocolate now containing 95% of its
original flavonoids.
While
it is true that flavonoids can be found in other foods such as
blueberries, black tea, green tea and red wine, they are much
more plentiful in dark chocolate. Be aware however that
chocolate may have its good side but it is still loaded with
fat and sugar and therefore must be eaten
sparingly.
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