There's good news for chocolate lovers.
The tasty treat may have medicinal properties.
In a recent study, volunteers ate just over six grams of dark chocolate daily for almost five months (one square from a German chocolate bar called Ritter Sport equal to about 1/12 Hershey's kisses).
Subjects who ate that amount ended up with lower high blood pressure readings than those who ate white chocolate.
Dr. Dirk Taubert, one of the authors of the study, said that blood pressure reductions with dark chocolate were small but still substantial enough to potentially reduce cardiovascular disease risks, although study volunteers weren't followed long enough to measure that effect.
Forty-four of the volunteers were in an age range from 56 through 73, but the results echo other smaller studies on cocoa-containing foods.
Researchers note that Cocoa contains flavonols, plant-based compounds that are also credited with giving red wine its heart-healthy benefits.
But don't run out and gorge on chocolate just yet!
While tests suggested that steady exposure to dark chocolate prompted chemical changes that helped dilate blood vessels and regulate blood pressure, the jury is still out.
Dr. Laura Svetkey, Director of Duke University's Hypertension Center, noted that while the results are interesting, studies need to be duplicated in larger more ethnically diverse populations than those overseas where the tests were conducted on healthy and mostly normal-weight German adults with mild high-blood pressure and hypertension with readings of 120 over 80 and 139 over 89.
Heck, if you have a sweet tooth like me, it's pretty good news, eh?
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