Dark chocolate's main health benefit lies in the fact that itlowers high blood pressure, but one should not ingest too much since it contains many calories.
Dark chocolate is a very potent antioxidant and it reducesthe amount of free radicals and other destructive molecules usuallyassociated with various heart diseases and many other illnesses. But one shouldalso notice that milk interferes with the absorption of antioxidants fromchocolate so it can minimize the health benefits associated with the moderateingestion of dark chocolate.
Various research dealing with lowering blood pressure with dark chocolate included people eating 100 gram candybars on a daily basis for two weeks. Half of them got dark chocolate while theother half got white chocolate and during the research they had to balance thecalorie intake by not eating any food that has nutritional values and caloriessimilar to those of chocolate. The ones who got dark chocolate showedresults of significant drops in blood pressure, while the ones who got whitechocolate did not show any improvement.
Another study involved younger participants who ate 100 grams of darkchocolate, 100 grams of dark chocolate with a glass of milk, and 200 grams ofmilk chocolate on different days. One hour after ingestion, each participantwho had dark chocolate had the highest amount of antioxidants in the blood,along with high levels of epicatechin. Epicatechin is a very healthy compoundwhich can be found in any kind of chocolate. Those who had milk with their darkchocolate and of course those who ate plain milk chocolate had significantlylower levels of antioxidants and epicatechin in their blood.
Cocoa phenols are a type of compound that is a key ingredient in lowering the blood pressure. Dark chocolate is generallybetter than ordinary milk chocolate and one should pay attention to the factthat European made chocolates are usually richer in cocoa phenols than the onesmade in America.
The most important thing that a person should not forget is thatthe calories always must be well balanced. With 100 grams of dark chocolate comesapproximately ten times more calories than the same amount found in raw apples. Butthe apples do not have the blood pressure benefit that comes in the very deliciousform of dark chocolate.
A person can switch their sweets to chocolate if intending to gowith the truffle treatment.