Chocolate lovers have a good reason to rejoice - new research says dark chocolate helps to keep the blood pressure down.
In a study by researchers at the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, it has been found that a small piece of dark chocolate, as little as 6.8 grammes or a quarter of an ounce a day, can lower blood pressure without weight gain or other negative side effects.
This is not the first research to find that foods rich in cocoa such as dark chocolate offer health benefits, but there has always been concern that the added sugar, fat and calories would negate any good the chocolate might do.
According to Dr. Dirk Taubert, the study leader regular intake of small amounts of dark chocolate can help to lower blood pressure.
Dark chocolate is rich in polyphenols which are thought to offer considerable health benefits.
For the study Dr. Taubert and colleagues studied 44 adults aged 56 to 73 with hypertension but no other health problems, over a one year period from January 2005 to December 2006.
The study participants were randomly selected to receive a single, 30-calorie square of dark chocolate containing 30 mg of polyphenols or a 30-calorie square of white chocolate that had no polyphenols.
The researchers found after 18 weeks, the dark chocolate group experienced a 3 point drop in systolic blood pressure, the top reading, and a 2 point drop in diastolic blood pressure, the bottom reading, without changes in body weight, cholesterol or blood sugar.