How Chocolate Can Save Your Life

Chocolate and cocoa powder come from beans that contain large amounts of antioxidants.

These antioxidants, called flavonoids, have been shown to relax the blood vessels and increase circulation, making cocoa a possible great addition to a heart-healthy diet. New research confirms this idea.

A study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine shows that death due to heart disease in previous heart attack sufferers are decreased threefold when those heart attack sufferers eat two or more servings of chocolate per week. Less chocolate consumption was linked to lower protection against heart attacks in previous heart attack victims. The bottom line - if you have suffered a heart attack, AND you are not diabetic, AND you are not obese, you may want to talk to your doctor about the benefits of adding cocoa to your diet.

This doesn't mean eating a milk chocolate bar everyday. In fact, milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate. Choose dark chocolate instead. In one study, 13 individuals with mild high blood pressure were given either white or dark chocolate bars and told to eat one 100-gram bar daily for two weeks. Those who ate the dark chocolate bars had an average drop of 5 points for systolic and 2 points for diastolic blood pressure. This was not the case for those who ate white chocolate. In another study, 12 individuals ate either 100 grams of dark chocolate alone, with a glass of milk, or 200 grams of milk chocolate. Their blood was measured an hour later and those who ate the dark chocolate alone had the highest level of total antioxidants in their blood.