Dark Chocolate Found To Be Good For Your Health

Scoop Report: Dark chocolate lovers can indulge their desires without cause for concern or guilt over what their passion may do to their health, according to an Italian scientist who has studied the effects of chocolate on the human heart. He says chocolate may also contain anti-aging agents.

Findings of a study into the consumption of dark chocolate suggest it has a positive impact on blood pressure and diabetes and also has an anti-aging-effect. That's the result of a study from the Università degli Studi dell’Aquila , which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

“The consumption of dark chocolate doesn’t only reduce blood pressure, but also improves the insulin sensibility”, explained study author Claudio Ferri.

Ferri says flavanols contained in chocolate is the magic ingredient.

The Italian scientists administered to 15 persons 100 grams of dark chocolate daily, which contains an amount of 500 mg polyphenol.

The control subjects received 90 gram white chocolate per day, which doesn’t contain any polyphenols.

The scientists observed that the consumption of dark chocolate minimized insulin resistance and increased insulin sensibility.

Of special importance for diabetes patients is the discovery that the body catabolises insulin by the consumption of chocolate. Moreover a reduction of the systolic blood pressure was registered in the dark chocolate group.

Experts ascribe the constitutional effect of chocolate to the flavanols. Flavanols are antioxidants which have the ability to neutralize free radicals that attack the cell structure. A similar effect was attested for other products which contain flavanols, such as tea or wine.

“The identification of healthy products and an understanding of how various products influence our body’s physiology are important for a healthy nutrition. Nevertheless I advise caution, because chocolate indeed contains antioxidants, but beyond it also big amounts of fat and calories”, explained Ferri.

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