Dark chocolate has frequently been reported to be good for the heart – and now Scandinavian researchers say they may have found the key to powerful drugs within it.
Eating a small bar of dark, unsweetened chocolate may be as good at reducing high blood pressure as some of the commercial drugs used to treat the condition, the Swedish researchers found.
The researchers at Linköping University say chocolate is successfully reducing the activity of the ACE enzyme – which is the subject of ACE inhibitor drugs.
During the research 16 volunteers at 75grams of unsweetened chocolate after spending 48 hours avoiding chocolate, berries, coffee, tea and wine – as these contain similar compounds.
Three hours after they ate the chocolate, the researchers found an 18 per cent reduction in the activity of the ACE enzyme. The findings have been published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology.
Researcher Ingrid Persson said the findings showed how improved diet – rather than drugs – can help prevent heart disease.
“Our findings indicate that changes in lifestyle with the help of foods that contain large concentrations of catechins and procyaninides prevent cardiovascular diseases,” she says.
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