High cholesterol Y high blood pressure are precursors to serious health problems, ranging from heart disease a strokes. While one clogs your arteries and the other makes them elastic, chocolate can help both. Medical michael mosley explains that a certain type of this sweet could cause your cholesterol and hypertension levels to return from the red zone.
Characterized by its rich yet sweet flavor, chocolate is a beloved treat enjoyed by many.
While you may want to enjoy milk squares filled with your favorite filling, this type won’t do much for your cardiovascular health.
However, the dark stuff could cause your high cholesterol and blood pressure levels to drop, according to doctor mosley.
The doctor wrote to the Daily Mail: “I have a very sweet tooth and the only way I can avoid unrestricted eating is to make sure there are no sweets – and certainly no milk chocolate – in the house.
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“But I often indulge in the afternoon (or post-dinner) luxury of a couple of small squares of dark chocolate.
“It helps satisfy my cravings for something sweet, while at the same time offering potential health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, improving blood flow, insulin and cholesterol levels and even boosting my brain.”
The reason dark chocolate is so potent is due to its high content of flavonoids, plant compounds linked to health benefits.
While these treats are removed from white and milk chocolate during the manufacturing process to ensure a less bitter taste, dark chocolate still contains these compounds.
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In addition, there is also research supporting Doctor Mosley word. A to studypublished in the journal BMC Medicine, reviewed different randomized controlled trials that looked at the main ingredient in chocolate: cocoa.
In deciding on fifteen trials that met their criteria, the researchers found that the food offered a “significant blood pressure-lowering effect.”
However, the team also noted that only participants with hypertension or prehypertension were able to get this benefit.
Researchpublished in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that combining dark chocolate with almonds lowered high cholesterol levels within four weeks.
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Looking at 48 overweight and obese people, researchers noted that almonds alone lowered bad cholesterol by seven percent.
Plus, pairing the crunchy meal with dark chocolate also helped reduce the culprit fat.
doctor mosley spoke to expert professor Aedin Cassidy, from Queen’s University Belfast, to get to the root of dark chocolate’s powers.
He said: “Chocolate expert Professor Cassidy believes that the flavanols in dark chocolate may also ‘feed’ the ‘good’ bacteria that live in our gut.”
Ms Cassidy said: “When you eat dark chocolate, the flavanols make their way to the large intestine before being metabolised.
“There, gut bacteria chew them up and turn them into special compounds that then travel to the heart and brain and increase blood flow to the brain, which aids learning and memory.”
The chocolate expert recommended opting for a dark chocolate with around 50 percent cocoa solids to enjoy the effect.
“This is a compromise between very high cocoa solids (which can be very bitter) and low cocoa solids (which can be caloric and too tempting to enjoy),” doctor mosley additional.
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