Overweight? Cocoa May Cut Blood Pressure Cocoa, either in a dark chocolate bar or as a hot drink, may reduce blood pressure in overweight adults.

That´s what happened in a recent study of 45 healthy adults with BMI (body mass index) near the borderline between overweight and obese.

The researchers -- who included David L. Katz, MD, MPH, of the Yale Prevention Research Center -- gave some of the participants a dark chocolate bar containing 22 grams of cocoa. Other participants got a bar containing no cocoa.

Before-and-after blood pressure and ultrasound tests showed better blood pressure and better blood vessel function after participants ate the dark chocolate bar, compared to the cocoa-free bar.

Likewise, blood pressure and blood vessel function improved after participants drank two cups of cocoa, compared with drinking a beverage containing no cocoa.

How the cocoa drink was sweetened mattered. When it contained sugar, blood pressure and blood vessel function didn´t improve as much as when the cocoa was sugar-free.

Katz and colleagues reason that in the sugary cocoa drink -- which contained about 45 grams of sugar per serving -- the sugar may have offset cocoa´s effects to some degree.

The study -- published in the July 1 edition of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition -- was partly sponsored by the Hershey Company.

Of course, eating too much chocolate or drinking too much cocoa isn´t a great idea. Blow your calorie budget and extra pounds will pile up, which is bad for your blood pressure.

Source: WebMD