High blood pressure often result due to excessive stress, poor diet and wrong lifestyle. The major cause of high blood pressure is often due to the production of a substance known as angiotensin in the body. Angiotensin has the exceptional adverse effect of narrowing blood vessel which usually result in a high blood pressure.
However, recent researches have shown that a naturally occuring substance found in cocoa and use in the production of chocolate has the ability to lower a high blood pressure. There was a particular study which proved that a substance in cocoa known as flavonols helps the body to process and synthesize nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide is very important for healthy blood flow in the vessels.
Another more recent study has also shown that flavonols in cocoa could help stop fat-like substances in the blood from oxidising and thereby clogging the arteries.
A much more recent research result published by Joe A. Vinson of the University of Scranton, Pa discovered and found that the flavonoids in chocolate are more potent and more powerful than vitanins in their ability to protect circulating lipids from oxidation. Hence, the flavonoids can be regarded as a powerful anti-oxidant. An anti-oxidant is essentially a substance that prevent or slows down oxidative reactions in the body. These oxidative reactions often lead to the formation of free radicals within the body cells. The radicals formed as a result of the oxidative reaction could be poisonous with a lot of adverse effect on healthy body cells.
