Scientists, Jeffrey Blumberg of Tufts University in Boston, who led the study and colleagues of the University of L' Aquila in Italy studied 10 men and 10 women with high blood pressure.
For 15 days, half ate a daily 100g bar of specially formulated, flavonoid rich dark chocolate, while the other half ate the same amount of white chocolate.
Then each group "crossed over" and ate the other chocolate. White chocolate, which has no flavonoids, was the perfect control food because it contains all the other ingredients and calories found in dark chocolate, Blumberg said.
It's important to note that the dark chocolate we used had a high level of flavonoids, giving it a slightly bittersweet taste. Most Americans eat milk chocolate, which has a low amount of these compounds.
Writting in the Journal Hypertension, Blumberg's team said that when the volunteers ate that special dark chocolate. They had a 12mm Hg decrease in systolic blood pressure ( the top number in a blood pressure reading) and a 9mm Hg decrease in diastolic blood pressure ( the bottom number) on average.
Blood pressure did not change when the volunteers ate white chocolate. This is not only a statistically signnificant effect but its also a clinically meaningful decline, Blumberg said.
"This is the kind of reduction in blood pressure often found with other heathful dietary interventions." Eating dark chocolate also seemed to improve now the body used insulin, and reduced low density lipoprotien (LDL) or 'bad' cholesterol by about 10% on average.
The finding do not suggest that people with high blood pressure should eat lots of dark chocolate in lieu of other important medication and exercise, Blumberg said,
"Rather we are identifying specific flavonoids that can havve a benefit on blood pressure and insulin sensitivity."
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