CHCOLATE - EAT A LITTLE OF IT TO LOWER BP

Live Longer: Eat This Much Chocolate
Eat one-third of a chocolate bar every day, and you will have lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of death. That's the sweet word from scientists at Wageningen University in The Netherlands, who determined that men who eat more cocoa products are healthier.
Find out why cocoa may be better for your heart than red wine or tea.
The Associated Press reports that the study, which appears to be the largest ever to document a health effect for cocoa beans, confirmed the findings of smaller, short-term studies that also linked chocolate with lower blood pressure. The magic ingredient is flavanols that work by increasing nitric oxide in the blood and improving blood vessel function.
This popular kind of soft drink can actually increase the risk of high blood pressure, especially in women.
This 10-year study examined the eating habits of 470 healthy men age 65 and older who were not taking blood pressure medicine. They were all part of the long-running Zutphen Elderly Study in The Netherlands. They found that the men who consumed the most products made from cocoa beans, which includes not only chocolate bars, but also cocoa drinks and even chocolate pudding, had lower blood pressure and a 50 percent lower risk of death than the men who didn't eat chocolate. It's important to note that the men who ate the chocolate products were not heavier or bigger eaters than the others.
Savor that chocolate. It's not only delectable, but also can help control diabetes and high blood pressure. There's just one catch.
There's just one catch: This isn't an open invitation to eat all you want. Consume too much chocolate and you'll get fat. That in turn will up your risk of both heart disease and high blood pressure. Moderation is key. The study findings were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Chocolate is the No. 1 most craved food, especially for women. WHY do we crave it? Find out the fascinating answer here.