Thursday, April 15, 2010

Dark Chocolate Benefits Liver Patients

source

A new study of 21 patients with end-stage liver disease has found that eating dark chocolate restricted the rise in post meal abdominal pressure, which can be dangerously high in cirrhotic patients, and even lead to blood vessels rupturing.  The study was presented to the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Vienna.

Cocoa contains antioxidants called, flavanols. These flavanols are believed to help the smooth muscle cells of blood vessels widen and relax; therefore, it’s beneficial to those with blood pressure issues.

The 21 research patients were given a meal with 85% cocoa dark chocolate….now that is my kind of diet! The end stage liver disease patients that were given the dark chocolate had a smaller rise in blood pressure in the liver than those that were given white chocolate.

2 comments:

Gera@SweetsFoodsBlog said...

Chocolate good news is always welcomed. This is a surprising product :)

Cheers,

Gera

Unknown said...

Great share Ashley....Almost everybody loves chocolate. :)