According to the "World Atlas of Chocolate," 52 percent of North Americans claim chocolate as their favorite flavor, followed distantly by vanilla and fruit flavors, at 12 percent each. A 40 gram chocolate bar contains the same amount of phenols as a glass of red wine. These antioxidant compounds are linked to decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, including high blood pressure.
Flavonoids
Purported heart disease and blood pressure lowering effects of flavonoids in chocolate were found to be significant in a study published in the 2010 "Clinical Nutrition." The studied, which used 4,970 participants aged 25 to 93, found a 49 percent higher prevalence of coronary heart disease in those who consumed non-chocolate candy only. Those who consumed chocolate five or more times per week had an odds ratio for coronary heart disease of 0.43 to 1.00 compared to an odds ratio of 1.01 to 1.00 for those consuming chocolate one to three times per month.
Pregnancy
Chocolate consumption was confirmed as a viable way to decrease preeclampsia -- a condition characterized by high blood pressure during pregnancy -- in a study published in the 2010 "Annals of Epidemiology." Chocolate intake was 80.7 percent among participants with normal blood pressure, while only 62.5 percent of those with preeclampsia in the study consumed chocolate regularly.
Dark Chocolate
A meta analysis of studies conducted between 1955 and 2009 on the effects of chocolate on blood pressure found that dark chocolate was superior to placebo in reducing systolic hypertension or diastolic prehypertension. However, the study, published in the 2010 "BMC Medicine," found no significant benefit of flavonol-rich chocolate in reducing blood pressure versus chocolate with lower flavonol content.
Considerations
When considering chocolate products for health benefits, dark chocolate, which is made with lower amounts of added milk and sugar, will have higher concentrations of the desired chocolate constituents such as flavonoids, amino acids and bioactive amine molecules, including phenylethylamine and tyramine, which are known for their ability to modulate neurotransmitters in a similar way to amphetamines. For this reason, most current research has focused on dark chocolate.
Cautions
Chocolate has a well-deserved reputation as a food of decadence that incorporates high quantities of added saturated animal fats, sugars and other substances that detract from the beneficial effects that chocolate, by itself, provides. Careful selection of chocolate-containing foods to favor those that are made to comply with the most up-to-date health information will yield the best results for lowering blood pressure.
References
- PubMed: Chocolate consumption is inversely associated with prevalent coronary heart disease: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study.
- PubMed: Does chocolate intake during pregnancy reduce the risks of preeclampsia and gestational hypertension?
- BiomedCentral: Does chocolate reduce blood pressure? A meta-analysis.
- The World Atlas of Chocolate: Chocolate Consumption
