It's no secret that high blood pressure can lead to serious health complications, especially if it’s left untreated. At its worst, it can cause hardening and thickening of the arteries, which can lead to either a heart attack or a stroke, or even both.
While some people (it doesn’t matter what age) may require medication to control and lower their surging blood pressure, for the lucky ones, it can be both controlled and prevented through eating a balanced, low-fat diet that, of course, is both agreed upon by a nutritionist and a physician. Cutting your salt intake is also one of the key strategies to do this as it has been known to raise blood pressure readings.
But there’s another food which has been shown to lower blood pressure, that’s actually a sweet treat. Well, sweet and a little bitter, we suppose. Yes, that’s right, we’re talking about dark chocolate.
In a study conducted back in 2010, 15 trials and experiments suggested that cocoa-rich chocolate reduces blood pressure in people with, er, high blood pressure. Although the researchers maintained that you have to be choosy just what kind of dark chocolate you consume. It needs to be of the highest quality. What does that mean? Well, it should contain a minimum of 70% cocoa. If the cocoa levels fall below that margin, maybe you should go on and look for something else. Also, you should only eat a single square (or one ounce) of dark chocolate each day to reap its benefits.
Sure, that might not be a lot, but that’s still something, especially for people who just can’t get enough of chocolate.
This story originally appeared on Spin.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
