Sweet News About Dark Chocolate
Who DOESN'T like chocolate?
It's an American favorite.
Our sweet tooth usually gravitates toward the milk varieties, laden with fat and sugar.
But dark chocolate sales are on the rise, up 40% last year.
I'm not ashamed to say, I belong to the body of chocolate lovers that doesn't mind the bitter with the sweet.
So when I read a new study touting the health benefits of dark chocolate, my interest was piqued.
The study, (reported in Tuesday's Journal of the American Medical Association) looked at 44 people between the ages of 54 and 76 with hypertension. All of them reported a drop in their blood pressure after 18 weeks of eating a 30 calorie a day serving of dark chocolate.
That's the equivalent of one and a half Hershey's dark chocolate Kisses.
But who eats only one or two of those?
I usually hit 10 before the self control kicks in.
So if I'm the average American, and that's my average serving, then why wouldn't a study measure what Americans are more LIKELY to eat?
Mind you, there have been other studies that have found similar results, but those have been funded by the chocolate industry.
So this one may have more clout from an ethics standpoint, but in America, the premise of "size matters" rules.
Portion size that is.
And until we curtail THAT aspect of our appetites, I'm waiting for a study that shows our true colors.
