Yes, You Can Have Your Chocolate

Filed in archive Diet and Nutrition , Health and Fitness , Lifestyle , Matters of heart , News on November 3, 2007

YES! Although researchers have said for some time that dark chocolate may be beneficial to our hearts by reducing hypertension, it's always nice to hear it again and again. Because that's how I justify it to myself. This article explains that

"The November issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter highlights a recent German study that found eating a small amount of dark chocolate every day reduces the top (systolic) blood pressure number by almost 3 millimeters...and the bottom (diastolic) blood pressure number by about 2 mm Hg.

Dark chocolate is a good source of flavonoids-an antioxidant that's thought to improve the function of blood vessels."

Before you rip open that large package of chocolates, however,

"Mayo Clinic doctors say there's not enough evidence to recommend eating dark chocolate as a treatment for hypertension."

All right, so eating chocolate isn't going to cure high blood pressure, but it's nice to know that something considered to be in the "bad" food category isn't so bad after all.



Remember, this is dark chocolate we're talking about. milk chocolate, unfortunately, doesn't contain the same compounds and therefore, doesn't offer the same healthy benefits. All milk chocolate does is taste good. Sadly. (Hey, milk chocolate, I still love you!)

Still, if you'd rather not see it on your thighs, but want to indulge in other ways, GlamLive clued me in to two delicious fragrances by Italian brand Cioccolato Mon Amour. If that doesn't look good enough to eat...

This way, you can wear your chocolate on your wrists or behind your ears and not on your hips. Yummy!

'Til next time, my pretties.