How would you like to exchange blood pressure medicine for chocolate? Sounds like a good trade, doesn’t it? If we’re going to eat sweets, we might as well make it beneficial to our health! 🙂
A team of scientists from Sweden has discovered that dark chocolate works to lower blood pressure the same way prescription pills do. Dark chocolate has high levels of catechins and procyanidines which have been shown to inhibit an enzyme that raises blood pressure. In the study, 10 men and 6 women had blood samples taken before and after eating 75 grams of dark chocolate. Within 3 hours, the blood pressure enzyme known as ACE was inhibited by up to 18%. This is as effective as drugs currently being given to millions of patients.
Let’s look at common side effects of the prescription drugs given to inhibit ACE:
- Cough
- Elevated blood potassium levels
- Low blood pressure, dizziness
- Headache
- Drowsiness
- Weakness
- Abnormal taste (metallic or salty taste)
- Rash
*If you are taking an ACE inhibitor prescription drug for blood pressure, talk to your doctor. Dark chocolate may be a sweet solution for you~without side effects!
Don’t like dark chocolate? Well, unfortunately milk chocolate contains too much sugar and not enough cocoa to be beneficial. The chocolate has to be at least 72% cocoa. Several years ago, I didn’t care for dark chocolate and always went for the milk. After reading many things about the health benefits of dark chocolate, I made the switch. Now, anything but dark chocolate tastes fake and too sweet! Slowly make the switch, and you won’t want to go back! 🙂
Recommendations for lowered blood pressure and lowered risk of heart disease & stroke:
*A balanced diet
*Not Smoking
*Eating 3/4 of a 3.5 oz. bar of dark chocolate daily ~ make SURE it says that it contains at least 72% cocoa on the wrapper!
Now you can have your chocolate fix and lower your blood pressure too! My problem is only eating 3/4 of that chocolate bar ~ I gotta work on self-control! 🙂 Enjoy dark chocolate and live a better quality of life~naturally!
You had me at ‘Have some chocolate’! It’s a good thing I’m a fan of dark chocolate, whew! And don’t you wish eating as much chocolate can just miraculously make us lose weight?? Oh well, I will continue to dream. And while ‘dreaming’, let me read that other post you have above, ‘The remedy for imbalanced hormones’. Thanks for sharing this post…found you via the week long blog hop.
So great to meet you, Joy! And yes, I do wish eating chocolate could help our weight! Let’s dream together! 😉
Chocolate may reduce hypertension. It have attracted interest as an alternative treatment option for hypertension arterielle, a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Thanks for sharing! Who doesn’t love to eat chocolate and receive benefits from it? 🙂
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I go to the doctor tomorrow for a follow up and she actually does believe in some holistic methods. I’m going to ask her what she thinks.
Great, Amy ~ best wishes! 🙂
I love chocolates, especially the dark ones. I will surely try it, this is going to be a tasty blood pressure medicine.