When I read that dark chocolate, my best friend, was effective in lowering blood pressure, while tea, love it it iced with loads of lemon, is not, I zeroed in on the daily portion mentioned, 3 1/2 ounces. This ounce thing has always irritated me, other than in the liquid realm. I comprehend an 8 ounce cup and thought I understood a shot glass, which I see is often 2 ounces, with a line marked at 1.5 oz--but then again, to complicate our lives, there is such a thing as a "pony shot" , of just one ounce.
Anyway--3 1/2 ounces of DARK chocolate is apparently enough to lower BP with great pleasure and without nasty meds. The study results are here.
So what is/are 3 1/2 ounces? According to the Iowa State University Extension website, it's a tad less than 8 dominoes, a tad more than a playing card. Don't have any dominoes handy but in my mind's eye they seem much bigger than the amount of choc I eat each day--my usual pattern is a square of Belgian dark chocolate ( T. Joe's) in the a.m. as my breakfast "dessert," and another square or two in the afternoon, in between meals.
Having scanned the packaging of dark choc with almonds, I now see that 3 squares at 1.3 oz total, is considered a 200 calorie serving--clearly I am not eating enough! ( The caloric content is an issue, at higher levels.........but I am gardening furiously these days.)
My BP is rising just contemplating this whole ounce annoyance.
(Thanks to www.kitchenslave.com/
Another tip for keeping blood-pressure manageable: avoid commenting in the same blog your mother is commenting in.
Posted by: Cloudzilla | May 02, 2007 at 02:29 PM
trader joes has some very good brands at reasonable prices
Posted by: edy | May 01, 2007 at 11:25 AM
Finally. An excuse to eat chocolate (not that I needed one). Unfortunately, I prefer milk choc, which I understand is useless when in comes to lowering BP.
As someone on the dreaded BP medication, I am going to start self-medicating with dark choc, to see what happens.
Posted by: Cloudzilla | April 30, 2007 at 01:46 PM
I have not found a description of the cocoa content as yet. I usually go with 72%. Over that and I feel I am gnawing on straight baking choc--not to mention that I am buzzed....
Posted by: foodie | April 30, 2007 at 10:13 AM
Is that 3 ounces of pure chocolate? The strongest dark (plain) chocolate I've seen is 70-80 percent.
Posted by: KathyF | April 29, 2007 at 11:06 PM