More good news: Chocolate is good for your heart

[Miss Critter]

We already knew it was good for the soul. Now it turns out that it's good for the heart, also. I believe that chocolate and wine should be two of the four major food groups, so I'm thrilled with this new discovery!

We already know it?s considered an aphrodisiac and can increase levels of serotonin in the body. And at Care2, we touted the scientific evidence that declared it a stress-reliever. We?ve found it?s an excellent masquerade of the healthy vegetable in this delicious zucchini cake, and we made sure to celebrate it during its honorary month, February.
As you might have guessed, Care2 editors love chocolate and love to offer reasons to eat the stuff.
Thanks to a recent study by German researchers, here?s one more reason: small amounts of the magical substance can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.
In the study, which analyzed the health and diet habits of 19,357 people aged 35 to 65 over ten years, participants who ate the most chocolate had lower blood pressure and were 39 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack than those who ate the least amount of chocolate.
Dr. Brian Buijsse, a nutritional epidemiologist who led the study, estimated that ?if people in the group eating the least amount of chocolate increased their chocolate intake by 6 grams a day, 85 fewer heart attacks and strokes per 10,000 people could be expected to occur over a period of about 10 years.? <now that's public health policy we can all adhere to!>
As with everything though, moderation is key. According to the researchers, six grams of chocolate is equivalent to about one small square of a 3.5 ounce chocolate bar.
Buijsse says that an increase of chocolate in a diet shouldn?t increase the total number of calories consumed. ?Small amounts of chocolate may help to prevent heart disease, but only if it replaces other energy-dense foods, such as snacks, in order to keep body weight stable,? he said.

Chocolate and Heart Disease | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

 

[CastlesOfSand]

Cheers to Wine and Chocolate!!!

 

[Susan Horn]

Thanks, Miss Critter! Chocolate is a gift from Heaven, no doubt.

Was up in Virginia Beach VA for a week of amazing health care, and my doc (family member, more like what we used to call "kissing cousins" I guess, so I get the royal treatment) took me to her fave chocolate shop on her afternoon off. I hand-selected a big box full (all dark of course) to take home for the family (since the Easter Bunny doesn't do too much around here lately), and the next thing I knew, my doc had paid for it while I was powdering my nose.

Imagine a world where that's the kind of tasty health care bonuses we all get every so often from our docs. That's where I live!

So far, the best one is the dark chocolate pistachio cluster, with the Grand Marnier ganache running a close second.

 

[scooterbug44]

The Scooterbug clan has known this for years! Red wine and dark chocolate are staples.

I threaten Mama Scooterbug with taking away her wine/chocolate to make her behave.

 

[Lynnie]

I think I must've known this when I was three!