There is good news for the BP patients. They have something new on their shrunken diet chart and that is nothing but dark chocolate.

A new research has showed that moderate consumption of dark chocolate can benefit BP patients by lowering it.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide, Australia, have analyzed 15 other such studies and found out that dark chocolate contains flavonoids, which help in the production of endothelial nitric oxide that help lowering blood pressure by vasodilatation (widening of blood vessels).

Karin Ried and her colleagues found that hypertensive individuals who consumed small amounts of dark chocolate were able to lower their blood pressure by as much as 5 percent while maintaining a healthy caloric intake.

The results aren’t so spectacular that it would be a suggested course of action and it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will lower the BP of high blood pressure patients. Its consumption is not good for a person with normal blood pressure.

Carina Norris, a Nutritionist and Author of The Food Manual, stated that dark chocolate is not a health food, as it contains saturated fats, which contributes to clogged arteries and poor heart health. Instead, fruits, vegetables and green tea contain flavonoids. So, they are recommended to be taken.