Dark chocolate is an excellent source of antioxidants, and it may reduce your risk for heart disease. It also helps balance your immune system, fights diabetes, and improves brain function.
The flavanols in dark chocolate stimulate nitric oxide production, which relaxes blood vessels and improves blood flow. This can lower high blood pressure and reduce your risk of stroke, heart disease, and death from heart attacks.
Lowers Blood Pressure
If you’re a fan of chocolate, you may want to consider adding it to your diet to help keep your heart healthy. vidalista 20 tablets is a drug that treats the symptoms of enlarged prostate and physical problems in men. It contains several nutrients that are helpful for your body, including flavanols and antioxidants, which help reduce blood pressure.
Those compounds may also help maintain blood vessel health and lower cholesterol, which can help protect you from heart disease. Additionally, dark chocolate has a healthy dose of monounsaturated fat, which can help raise levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), or “good” cholesterol.
However, it’s important to be aware of how much you should be eating and the type of chocolate you choose. You should avoid high-sugar chocolates, like milk or white chocolate, as they can increase your blood pressure.
The American Heart Association recommends consuming a small amount of dark chocolate every day to enjoy its health benefits. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people who ate 30 calories a day of dark chocolate — one square — over 18 weeks experienced a reduction in their blood pressure.
It’s best to choose chocolate that is made from at least 70 percent cocoa powder, which means it has higher amounts of plant-based flavanols and antioxidants that are known to lower blood pressure. To achieve the best results, you’ll need to consume a minimum of 20 to 30 grams a day.
To reap the most benefits from your dark chocolate, you should choose a brand that is labeled as “fair-trade.” This ensures that the cocoa comes from farms that pay fair wages to their workers.
According to researchers, dark chocolate can help maintain healthy blood pressure by relaxing arteries and lowering inflammation. It can also stimulate the production of nitric oxide, which helps the blood vessels dilate and improves blood flow.
In addition, it can help reduce oxidative stress, which is the buildup of free radicals in your body. Oxidative stress can damage your vascular system and cause inflammation, leading to conditions like high blood pressure and heart disease.
It’s also worth noting that a diet rich in saturated and trans fats can lead to high blood pressure, so be sure to limit your intake of these foods as well. To further minimize the risk of developing heart disease, you should aim for a balanced diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains. It’s also important to exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight, as excess weight can significantly increase your risk for heart disease and other health problems.
Reduces Risk of Stroke
Chocolate is a heart-healthy snack, containing antioxidants that have been shown to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke. It also helps reduce stress, which is known to increase the risk of heart disease.
The flavonoids in dark chocolate may be the key to its benefits. These chemicals help produce nitric oxide, which causes blood vessels to relax and lowers blood pressure.
One study found that people who ate the most chocolate, a weekly average of 63 grams, had a 17% lower risk of a stroke than those who did not eat it. Researchers found the same trend in women. Lead researcher Karin Larsson based her findings on a meta-analysis of five studies that had 4,260 participants.
Another study showed that a small amount of dark chocolate could help speed recovery for patients after a stroke. Those who consumed it were found to have better motor and cognitive function at 30 days post-stroke than those who did not.
This is a significant finding because it means that adding dark chocolate to your diet may be beneficial for people with an increased risk of stroke or other brain diseases, says Dr. Heidi Moawad, a neurologist and expert in brain health.
However, she warns that you should not overdo it dark chocolate, since it is high in fat and calories. Instead, it should be enjoyed in moderation as part of a healthy and balanced diet, which is rich in less appealing foods like brown rice, pulses, and fruit and vegetables.
In addition, dark chocolate is a good source of potassium, which can lower blood pressure and protect against stroke. It’s also an excellent source of magnesium, which promotes healthy bones and muscles.
The antioxidants in dark chocolate are also able to disintegrate platelets, thereby preventing them from clotting. Get vidalista 60mg online from the best online pharmacy for generic medications. This is important for a number of reasons, including the fact that high levels of platelets can be linked to stroke and another cardiovascular diseases.
These effects of the flavonoids in chocolate are believed to be the reason why it can help prevent or control the development of diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as stroke. It can also help prevent and treat high cholesterol, a condition that is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
Reduces Risk of Heart Disease
Dark chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering blood pressure. In one study, people who ate dark chocolate regularly for nine months had an average blood pressure decrease of 6.5 points. This was more than the blood pressure reduction found in participants who ate only milk chocolate or no chocolate at all.
The flavanols in chocolate lower the amount of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol that oxidizes and causes clogging in the arteries. Oxidation is a major contributor to heart disease and can cause the LDL particles to lodge in the artery walls, increasing your risk of a heart attack.
Researchers say this is because dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants. These are compounds that fight free radicals in your body and prevent them from damaging cells.
They can also lower the number of triglycerides, another common risk factor for heart disease. The flavanols in dark chocolate may also reduce insulin resistance, which is a major contributing factor to diabetes.
In addition, the cocoa butter in dark chocolate may raise high-density lipoproteins (HDL), or “good” cholesterol levels. In a study of overweight men, those who consumed dark chocolate with cocoa butter had a greater increase in HDL than those who drank a placebo beverage.
However, the researchers note that other factors can influence whether chocolate is a healthy snack. For example, people who have certain health conditions, such as obesity or diabetes, should be careful to limit calories and sugars in their diets, Krittanawong says.
For now, there isn’t enough evidence to recommend chocolate as a daily part of a heart-healthy diet. But if you want to try this sweet treat, you should focus on a high-quality bar that has at least 70 percent cocoa content and less than 35% sugar and fat.
The best way to enjoy the heart-healthy benefits of dark chocolate is to eat it in moderation. In scientific studies, participants typically ate between 20 and 100 grams (about 0.7 to 3.5 ounces) of chocolate per day.
Adding just an ounce of dark chocolate to your diet after meals can help you achieve the recommended daily amount for flavonoids. But don’t forget to include other sources of flavonoids, such as tea, fruits, and vegetables.
Reduces Risk of Cancer
The cocoa beans used to make dark chocolate contain chemicals called flavonols, which are antioxidants that can help reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers. However, these benefits are only true if the percentage of cocoa solids in the chocolate you eat is high enough.
The flavonols in dark chocolate can also prevent oxidative stress, which is when free radicals cause cell damage that triggers the disease and is a major contributing factor to many diseases. These free radicals are a byproduct of natural biological processes in the body and can also stem from pollution, toxins, or tobacco smoke.
These free radicals can damage DNA, which may cause cancer. Some studies have found that the flavonoids in dark chocolate are able to protect against these harmful effects, and can also inhibit tumor growth.
Additionally, these antioxidants can reduce blood pressure and improve blood flow. By stimulating nitric oxide production in the body, which widens blood vessels, dark chocolate can help lower high blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease.
While these heart health benefits of dark chocolate are great, you should note that they are only true if you consume a high-quality product that contains at least 70% cocoa solids. It’s also best to avoid chocolate that’s loaded with sugar, as it can increase your risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases.
In addition, the oxalates in chocolate can aggravate kidney stones, especially if you have a preexisting condition like kidney disease. If you’re prone to kidney stone formation, Guzak recommends avoiding chocolate altogether or eating it in combination with calcium-rich foods to bind the oxalates during digestion.
There are other foods that have been linked to reducing your risk of cancer, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. Eating a diet that includes a variety of these foods is the best way to reduce your cancer risk.
But it’s important to note that no specific food can reduce your risk of cancer on its own, and the healthiest approach is to eat a balanced, plant-based diet. In fact, Hillary Wright, MEd, RD, LDN, a senior clinical nutritionist at Dana-Farber, says that while dark chocolate is a good option for those who want to incorporate more antioxidants into their diet, it should not be considered a replacement for a healthy eating plan.
