For Chocolate Lovers Everywhere

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I never met a chocolate I didn't like…well, I take that back, I don't like white chocolate. But then again, it's not really chocolate. Shoot, I may even dream in chocolate. Wait a minute, you may be thinking, isn't she a nutritionist? Has she gone off the deep end and jumped into a pool of chocolate?

Here's some exciting news for all chocolate lovers. Recent research looked at the benefits of dark chocolate (such as bittersweet) on blood pressure. Conducted at Tufts University in Boston and reported in the journal Hypertension , the research looked at people who already have high blood pressure. When they consumed the special dark chocolate over 15 days, both the systolic blood pressure (the top number) and the diastolic (bottom number) dropped about 10 points or 10mm Hg as blood pressure readings go.

It seems that dark chocolate contain a high level of flavonoids, naturally occurring compounds (also called phytochemicals or phytonutrients) in chocolate which appear to benefit vascular function. By the way, many fruits, vegetables, tea and red wine also contain these flavonoids. Now, this is not permission for a chocolate free for all but it does show that dark chocolate can not only taste great and be a wonderful treat but it may benefit your body at the same time. Yum, I knew I like dark chocolate over milk chocolate for a reason.