For folks with liver problems - particularly those with cirrhosis - the news flash was a jolt in the arm.
Researchers in Spain just announced, after all, that Cocoa-rich dark chocolate could be prescribed for people afflicted with those ailments - one day in the near future - based on the finding that dark chocolate has potenital health benefits.
In one study, researchers found that a chunk of the delicious treat, inhibited the usual after-meal rise in abdominal blood pressure, which can reach dangerous levels in cirrhotic patients (and rupture blood vessels in severe cases).
Antioxidants called flavanols - a main ingredient - are the reason why chocolate is (not only yummy) but god for blood pressure.
The chemicals help the smooth muscle cells of the blood vessels to relax and widen.
When twenty-one patients were given a snack containing eighty-five percent dark cocoa, there was a noticeable drop in blood pressure in the liver (portal hypertension).
Not so, with white chocolate, however.
"This study shows a clear association between eating dark chocolate and (lower) portal hypertension and demonstrates the potential importance of improvements in the management of cirrhotic patients," said Mark Thursz (Professor of Hepatology at London's Imperial College).
The European Association for the Study of the Liver in Vienna was the first research group to be enlightened about the dark chocolate factor.
Other ongoing related studies underscored that dark chocolate also promotes heart health.
Cirrhosis is a medical condition that causes scarring of the liver after long-term damage - usually triggered by various factors - such as hepatitis infection and chronic alcohol consumption.
Imagine that - chomping down on dark choloate and savoring each delicious morsel - for actual medicinal purposes.
Say, I like the direction that researchers are taking us.
What next, champagne to cure bad breath?
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