Hold the Marshmallows!
Could hot cocoa be the next "wonder drug"
for high blood pressure?
Harvard researchers praise stunningly simple discovery!
'According to recent estimates, nearly 1-in-3 American adults has high blood pressure. But for the Kuna Indians living on a group of islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama, hypertension doesn't even exist. In fact, after age 60, the average blood pressure for Kuna Indian islanders is a perfect 110/70.
Is it because they eat less salt? No. Kuna Indians eat as much, if not more salt, than people in the U.S.
Is it due to their genes? No. Kuna Indians who move away from the islands are just as likely to suffer from high blood pressure as anyone else!
So what makes these folks practically "immune" to hypertension—and lets them enjoy much lower death rates from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and cancer?
Harvard researchers were stunned to discover it's because they drink about 5 cups of cocoa each day. That's right, cocoa!
Studies show the flavonols in cocoa stimulate your body's production of nitric oxide—boosting blood flow to your heart, brain, and other organs. In fact, one study found cocoa thins your blood just as well as low-dose aspirin!
But that's not all. A Harvard Medical School professor claims cocoa can also treat blocked arteries, congestive heart failure, stroke, dementia, even impotence!'
Source: Bottom Line Newsletter
COMMENT: People who like chocolate and have high blood pressure should eat very dark (plain) chocolate. You can get brands now that contain 70-85% cocoa. I have been eating it for six months and my BP went down 20 points.
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 425058BEWARE:The good stuff is often processed out of the stuff on candy store shelves
[link to www.bottomlinesecrets.com]
Editor's Note: Best Healthy Chocolate Choice: Make your own super healthy, stove top hot chocolate with Raw Cacoa Power and purified water, add a generous pinch of cinnamon (organic and non-irradiated) and then sweeten to taste with raw honey. Be sure to add the honey after the hot chocolate is brewed, otherwise the healing enzymes in the honey will be destroyed. For a richer taste, you can add some fresh, room temperature raw milk to the hot chocolate/water brew--off the stove.
Health Benefits of Chocolate and Raw Cacao
Graph designed from information gathered at Natural News: Examining the Properties of Chocolate and Cacao for Health. Source: Source: US department of Agriculture/Journal of American Chemical Society and Brunswick Laboratories MA, USA
- Dark Chocolate and Cacao on Endothelial Function
- This study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that heart health is increased by consumption of cacao. Blood pressure is reduced, and endothelial function improved in overweight adults.
- Improve Your Health and Well-Being with Raw Chocolate
- "Chocolate contains more magnesium than any other food. Magnesium is the number one mineral deficiency in the west. It is the most powerful stress relieving mineral. It also relaxes the muscles and builds strong bones and teeth." What more do you need?
- Chocolate again scores well in a literature review for protective effects against heart disease. From the article published in Nutrition & Metabolism (Jan 3, 2006,) "The body of short-term randomized feeding trials suggests cocoa and chocolate may exert beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk via effects on lowering blood pressure, anti-inflammation, anti-platelet function, higher HDL, decreased LDL oxidation" and "Meanwhile, the large body of prospective studies of flavonoids suggests the flavonoid content of chocolate may reduce risk of cardiovascular mortality. Our updated meta-analysis indicates that intake of flavonoids may lower risk of CHD mortality".
- Cocoa Intake, Blood Pressure, and Cardiovascular Mortality
- Another study, from the Archives of Internal Medicine February 2006.
Read more...Source:
UliMana
