Healthy Heart & Chocolate

Here's good news for chocolate lovers. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, eating a small amount of chocolate each day may help to reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke, and it may actually lower your blood pressure.

The DHHS explains that studies were conducted by German researchers who discovered that individuals ranging in age from 35 to 65 who ate approximately 0.3 ounces (or 7.5 grams) of chocolate each day had lower blood pressure than a control group that ate less chocolate. Additionally, they found these same people were 39 percent less likely to experience a heart attack than the control group.

The American Heart Association advises that the amount of chocolate you eat should not increase your overall caloric consumption, and reminds individuals that eating chocolate should not replace eating other healthy foods. Even though eating small amounts of chocolate each day will lower your risk for heart attack or stroke, it's just as important to keep yourself at a stable and healthy body weight.

Brian Buijsse, the lead researcher in the German Study, explained that dark chocolate has the greatest health effects on the heart, while milk chocolate shows fewer effects, and white chocolate has no effect at all. Buijsse also warns that eating too much chocolate can lead to weight gain, and points out that obesity can have adverse effects on your heart health.

The experts conducting the study said that there are natural compounds found in chocolate known as flavonoids which are responsible for reducing inflammation and keeping the arteries clear and healthy.

?