Eat This Dark Treat to Ease Blood Pressure

Here's one of the best ways to satisfy your sweet tooth while keeping your blood pressure in check: Take a nibble of dark chocolate.

In a German study of middle-aged and older people with mildly elevated blood pressure, those who ate a little of the dark stuff daily saw their readings drop several points after just 18 weeks of nibbling.

A Square a Day
The best news of all is that the folks in the study didn't have to eat much dark chocolate -- just one small, 30-calorie square each day. After 18 weeks, the dark chocolate eaters experienced a nearly three-point drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number) and about a two-point drop in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number). Although the drop sounds small, when it comes to blood pressure, any little improvement can mean big things for your health. And in the study, the researchers estimated that the small drop in blood pressure in the prehypertensive study participants translated into about a 21 percent lower risk for really problematic blood pressure -- the kind that's so high it requires prescription medication. (Related: Find out what breakfast food helped people lower their blood pressure in a recent study.)

The Favors of Flavonols
Healthy compounds in dark chocolate -- called flavonols -- are undoubtedly the root cause of the blood pressure benefits in the recent study. Flavonols increase blood levels of nitric oxide, a chemical responsible for relaxing and opening blood vessels. And because chocolate tends to be high calorie, it's great news that such a small serving of dark chocolate has enough flavonols to help keep blood pressure healthy. Of course, chocolate alone won't keep blood pressure healthy. So follow these blood-vessel-friendly habits as well:

• Keep the salt shaker in the cupboard. Here are three tips for using less salt.
• Find 10 minutes to walk. Here's why that's all you need to keep blood pressure in check.
• Relax a little. Find out why laughing is so good for your blood vessels.

Here are several other tasty foods that help lower blood pressure.