Eating dark chocolate may have a protective effect on the cardiovascular system in healthy people, the results of a new study in the American Journal of Hypertension.
They point out that the elasticity or stiffness of arteries "are important determinants of cardiovascular performance and are predictors of cardiovascular risk."
The researchers examined the effects of flavonoid-rich dark chocolate on blood-vessel function in 17 young, healthy volunteers over a 3-hour period after they consumed 100 grams of a commercially available dark chocolate.
The investigators saw that an artery in the arm dilated significantly more in response to an increase in bloodflow. Chocolate consumption also led to a significant 7-percent decrease in aortic stiffness.
Courtesy of Reuters 6/24/2005
Bonnie - Music to my ears. I have telling this to clients for years and it is nice to see it in a pretisgious cardiac journal. Make sure the cocoa content is 61% or above. Dark chocolate is ALWAYS milk-free.
No comments:
Post a Comment