Have A Piece of Dark Chocolate

            Do you have high blood pressure? Eat a dark chocolate truffle. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. One piece of dark chocolate a day can’t keep the doctors away, but it can help prevent you from having a stroke or even a heart attack. Dark chocolate is a great source of antioxidants, which can help strengthen your ability to fight infection and diseases.

We all know atherosclerosis is when arteries become stiff and white blood cells stick to the walls of blood vessels. By adding a piece of dark chocolate everyday it can help restore flexibility to arteries and prevent those white blood cells from sticking to the walls. Dr. Esser and his colleagues at Wageningen University in the Netherlands recently evaluated 44 middle-aged overweight men over two separate 4- week periods that had two ounces of chocolate per day. The study showed that the chocolate consumption increased endothelium-dependent vasodilation.

Dark chocolate has a number of ways it can improve other health problems such as, decreasing your LDL cholesterol, reducing your rick of getting blood clots, increasing blood flow in arteries and the heart. Dark chocolate has even been found to improve mood by boosting the serotonin and endorphins in the brain. Also beware, dark chocolate is high in fat and calories, so be sure to eat right and balance out those extra pieces of dark chocolate. Go ahead and indulge in a sweet sugary goodness, and do not feel guilty because you’re helping your heart out!

Heather Mundlin

http://www.fasebj.org/content/28/3/1464.abstract

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140227092149.htm