Chocolate helps treat high BP,cuts stroke risk by 20%

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Chocolate helps treat high BP,cuts stroke risk by 20%
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Source: Times of India
London: Suffering from hypertension Fret not,just gorge on a chunk of
dark chocolate daily,for a new study reveals that it could have the
same positive effect on high blood pressure as half an hour of
exercise. Researchers have carried out the study and found that people
with high blood pressure can reduce the chance of having a heart
attack or a stroke by 20% if they eat chocolate everyday. According to
them,chocolate,particularly the dark variety,contains chemicals known
as flavanols which naturally open up blood vessels in the body,which
means blood can flow more easily and the pressure drops.You don't
always need medication to reduce blood pressure.This shows that there
are some foods that can help, lead researcher Karin Ried of Adelaide
University was quoted by the Telegraph as saying. For the study,the
experts combined the results of 15 other studies looking at chocolate
and cocoa between 1955 and 2009 covering hundreds of people.They found
that for people with hypertension,eating chocolate could reduce the
blood pressure by up to 5%.But for those with normal pressure it had
no effect,the findings revealed.PTI