Dark Chocolate Helps Blood Pressure

Last week, investigators from Germany reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that eating one square of dark chocolate per day reduces blood pressure. They reached this conclusion after conducting a randomized clinical trial in 44 adults with borderline hypertension, in which half the participants ate a 6.3 gram square of dark chocolate each day and the other half ate an equivalent amount of white chocolate. At the end of 18 weeks, those who ate the dark chocolate had a drop in systolic pressure of about 3 mm/Hg, and in diastolic pressure of 2 mm/Hg. The control group had no drop in blood pressure.

Past studies have shown similar results, but this study is significant because the amount of dark chocolate consumed was small - 6.3 grams of dark chocolate yields only about 30 calories. Prior studies showing a blood pressure benefit with dark chocolate had participants consuming almost 500 calories of the stuff per day (which would cause a weight gain of about a pound per week).

The active ingredient in dark chocolate thought to be responsible for the blood pressure lowering effect - cocoa polyphenols - is not present in either white chocolate or milk chocolate. Only dark chocolate will do.

So: The evidence now seems pretty firm. A small amount of dark chocolate each day can produce a small decrease in blood pressure.