Another Reason to Enjoy Dark Chocolate?

Thursday, November 01, 2007

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A small, tantalizing new study shows that dark chocolate may help reduce hypertension.

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 of mercury (mm Hg) 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.

The study, published in the July 4, 2007, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, included 44 adults with high blood pressure. Participants were assigned to eat 6 grams (30 calories) of either dark or white chocolate every day for 18 weeks. The white chocolate group saw no change in blood pressure.

While the study adds to the growing body of knowledge on chocolate and potential health benefits, Mayo Clinic doctors say there's not enough evidence to recommend eating dark chocolate as a treatment for hypertension.

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Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first." More than 3,700 physicians, scientists and researchers, and 50,100 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has campuses in Rochester, Minn; Jacksonville, Fla; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz.; and community-based providers in more than 70 locations in southern Minnesota., western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. These locations treat more than half a million people each year. To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and education, visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your health stories.