Chocolate and Atherosclerosis : SuperFoodsRx

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Chocolate and Atherosclerosis

Table of Contents

1.	Overview
2.	What Makes Dark Chocolate a SuperFood?
3.	Chocolate and Blood Pressure
4.	Chocolate and Atherosclerosis
5.	What About the Fat?
6.	Chocolate: Some Buyer’s Tips
7.	Using Chocolate

Research suggests that atherosclerosis begins and progresses as a gradual inflammatory process. It normally involves years of chronic injury to the lining of the blood vessels. As the lining—or endothelial cells—is damaged, atherosclerotic plaques, or fatty deposits, are formed on the walls of the blood vessels. These plaques both impede the flow of blood and can rupture, leading to a blood clot, which could precipitate a heart attack or stroke.

Chocolate to the rescue. The polyphenols in chocolate act to relax the smooth muscle of the blood vessels. In addition, it seems that these polyphenols also inhibit the clotting of the blood. In a 2001 study, volunteer subjects were given a commercial chocolate bar (Dove Dark) containing 148 mg of flavonols. The end result was that the volunteers showed reduced levels of inflammation and beneficial delays in blood clotting at two and six hours after ingesting the chocolate.

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