Diabetes News

New research found that foods rich in cocoa -- aka, the main ingredient in chocolate -- could lower systolic blood pressure by roughly 4.7 points and diastolic pressure by 2.8 points, according to Janet Cromley of the Los Angeles Times.

This means, Cromley's article explains, a person whose blood pressure is 140/80 and had a chocolate snack every day could see their blood pressure reading drop to 135/77.

A research team at the University of Cologne in Germany reviewed five studies on cocoa as well as five studies on tea, and reported their findings in the April issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The theory is that plant compounds called polyphenols, which are found in chocolate, are responsible for its apparent beneficial effects.

But don't rush out and stock up on Hershey bars just yet. As lead author Dr. Dirk Tauber told Cromley, foods with high concentrations of polyphenols, like dark chocolate, may be considered part of a blood pressure lowering diet, provided that there is no gain in total calorie intake." 

In other words, this research isn't a license to load up on all the candy bars you want. Also, if a person wanted to eat dark chocolate in an attempt to lower blood pressure, that person would have to consume less of something else to avoid eating more calories than he or she needs.

To journalist Crowley's credit, she did make sure to include that crucial caveat about what kind of chocolate to eat and how to incorporate it into one's diet. But I hope chocolate makers remember that and refrain from touting all their chocolate products (especially ones filled with sugar) as health-giving elixirs to an unsuspecting public. I mean, I'm no doctor, but is a drop in blood pressure 140/80 to 135/77 significant enough to justify eating chocolate to achieve?

From Jennifer Moore