Chocolate- Health Benefits

The medicinal use of cacao, or chocolate, originated among the Mayans and Aztecs. Over the centuries medicinal use of cacao included:

• treatment of fatigue
• alleviating fevers and panting of breath and to treat the faint of heart
• stimulatation of the nervous system
• improving digestion
• treating anemia

Preparations of cacao bark, oil (cacao butter), leaves and flowers have been used to treat burns, cuts and skin irritations.

Chocolate is making a resurgence as a medical treatment. Recent articles include:

• Chocolate Does a Man's Heart Good

  Chocolate lovers, take heart: Dutch research suggests that eating or drinking cocoa appears to lower blood pressure and even reduce the death risks for older men. more
  

• Dark chocolate may fight off heart attacks

The antioxidants in chocolate are called flavonoids, potent plant compounds also found in tea, red wine and some fruits and vegetables. Studies show that flavonoids slow the processing of "bad" LDL cholesterol into material that clogs the arteries, and at the same time make blood platelets less likely to clump and cause clots. ...more

• Chocolate provides sweet solution to misery of the persistent cough

Theobromine, an ingredient in chocolate, could be used to stop persistent coughs, researchers said yesterday. The compound, which comes from cocoa, was nearly a third more effective in stopping persistent coughs than codeine, now considered the best cough medicine. ...more

Chocolate- Good for the Heart

...more

Individuals wishing to self-medicate with nonprescription-strength chocolate should reach for:

• cocoa
• dark chocolate

which can contain two to three times as much of these compounds, per ounce, as milk chocolate.

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