In the past, I’ve made a few posts regarding dark chocolate and hypertension. Here’s a link to a brief article that reminds us that indeed, research indicates that dark chocolate can improve blood pressure and may improve cholesterol levels and insulin sensitivity.
http://www.ephit.com/coventry_contest/chocolate.htm
The article also points out that processing removes much of the benefits of the chocolate.
If you’d be interested in dark chocolate that is minimally processed (not dutched and is cold pressed), please e-mail me and I’d be happy to send you some information. My contact info is in the “About” page.
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Categories: antioxidant · cardiovascular disease · chocolate · cholesterol · cocoa · diabetes · flavonoid · health · healthy chocolate · heart disease · high blood pressure · hypertension
Norman Hollenberg, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School says that epicatechin, one of the flavonoids in cacao, has such powerful health benefits, it “may rival penicillin and anaesthesia in terms of importance to public health.” He thinks it is so important it should be considered a vitamin.
He has spent years studying the Kuna people in Panama, who drink large amounts of cocoa. He found that four of the five most common killer diseases in the industrialized world are significantly reduced. He attributes that reduction to the high levels of epicatechin in cocoa.
As usual, a link to the article is found below.
ScienceDaily: Cocoa ‘Vitamin’ Health Benefits Could Outshine Penicillin
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Categories: cacao · cardiovascular disease · chocolate · cocoa · diabetes · flavonoid · health · healthy chocolate · heart disease · stroke
A Japanese study, whose results were printed in the journal Nutrition, Volume 23, Issue 4, pp 351-355 concludes that “dietary supplementation with CLPr can dose-dependently prevent the development of hyperglycemia in diabetic obese mice. The dietary intake of food or drinks produced from cacao beans might be beneficial in preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus.”
CLPr is cacao liquor proanthocyanidins, which are some of the flavonoids found in cacao.
It appears that CLPr may have prevented the increase of blood glucose levels in the diabetic and overweight mice used in the study.
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Categories: antioxidant · cacao · cocoa · diabetes · health · healthy chocolate
