Dark Chocolate

[ss017]

I recently read that dark chocolate is good to slow down your heart rate and the darker the better. Is this true?

I would think it would do the opposite since it contains caffeine.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Yes, the opposite is true. Theobromine (related to caffeine) is found in cocoa and can increase the heart rate. In sufficient quantities it may even cause palpitations.

[seasider18 in reply to MichaelJH]

Spoilsport

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to seasider18]

I have the occasional one or two pieces like Chappychap. In reality I suspect you would need to eat an awful lot (you can do the calculation if you want) to have the same effect of two cups of coffee and the calorie hit would pile on the pounds! Not 😎 !

[seasider18 in reply to MichaelJH]

I'm in permanent AF and eat my dark chocolate and have a generous glass of red wine with my dinner and it does not have any ill effects. Real coffee does not affect me either but as my wife no longer drinks it is too much hassle to make for one. Back in my working days I'd have as many as eleven cups a day many of them a strong continental blend.

[HectorsDad in reply to MichaelJH]

So obviously eating milk or white chocolate IS healthy 😀

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to HectorsDad]

Not necessarily - see Chappychap's post below...

[HectorsDad in reply to MichaelJH]

Nah, just hoping 😀. For those old enough to remember the cream cake joke in the Woody Alan film The Sleeper......

[Chappychap]

75% cocoa content chocolate (or darker) probably has some small health benefits,

-it's nutritious in that it's packed with fibre, iron, magnesium, and potassium.

-it's full of anti-oxidants (more so than even blueberries)

-it may help protect the endothelium (the lining of the arteries) see this research,

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/183...

-it may deliver a modest reduction in blood pressure, see this research,

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/176...

but note that another study, specific to people with high blood pressure, showed no blood pressure improvement

-it may reduce "bad" LDL cholesterol, see this research,

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/175...

But you need to keep all this in context, there is much, much stronger evidence that getting your weight under control and reducing your waistline are far more important in combatting heart disease. And dark chocolate is still quite calorific, so we certainly don't have the green light to gorge on the stuff...it's absolutely not broccoli or kale!

I will, maybe every two or three weeks, have a single square of 80% chocolate. So hardly going wild in the sweet shop!

The hard truth is that there are no easy shortcuts when it comes to the life style modifications necessary to keep our heart disease under control. It pretty much all requires giving pleasurable stuff up and finding several hours a week for sweaty exercise when I for one would prefer to be relaxing!

But, if that's the price for enjoying a few more years of healthy, active life, then I'm prepared to pay it.

[seasider18 in reply to Chappychap]

One of my (now few) treats is two squares of 90% dark chocolate every evening

[nymima01]

I eat 2 squares of dark chocolate every day. It does not keep me awake at night like milk chocolate does. I buy 80% or above. It is made of cocoa rather than chocolate. So as far as I know, there is no caffeine in it. I don’t notice a difference in my heart rate after eating it, but I never paid attention. Maybe I will now. Thanks!

[cowparsley]

I rarely eat chocolate but treated myself to some yesterday,darkest possible is favourite,ate the whole bar and had to lie down,felt so ill !!!

[jerry12953 in reply to cowparsley]

Well that's not surprising! Everything in moderation I say........ dark chocolate is one of my treats.

This is only a personal opinion but I feel that obsessing over diet will cause more unhappiness than any possible minor improvements in symptoms that the new diet might bring . I do feel that in most situations the body is pretty robust and can cope with these little things (although there my be exceptions).

My father was in the last stages of his life when the medics told him he should stop eating something that he enjoyed ..... bananas I think it was. Have a sense of proportion folks........

[cowparsley]

I quite agree jerry.Luckily I don`t have to diet as I really don`t like fast food or anything sweet.All my sugar comes from prosecco and noway am I giving that up!!