3 ways dark chocolate can help prevent heart problems, according to Mercy Health
February is American Heart Health month.
One in every five deaths is caused by heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. for men and women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Jill Haltigan works with Mercy Health Youngstown as a family physician.
“We try to encourage patients to learn more about their heart health, or increase their awareness of the different symptoms that they should be watching out for,” said Dr. Haltigan. “There are different lifestyle changes they can make that may help them avoid some of these issues as they get older. It’s a month designated to bring awareness to the leading cause of death in this country and to try to help patients learn more about their health risk factors.”
Dr. Haltigan explained some of the first lifestyle changes she encourages patients to try to incorporate for better heart health.
“In terms of our food, the more that people can cook at home, the better and incorporate more nutritious foods into that -- so fruits, vegetables, lean protein sources-- those are the best,” said Dr. Haltigan. “This doesn’t need to be an all-or-nothing kind of strategy. If people can even move the needle in small ways, that can make a difference in terms of their heart health and their overall well-being.”
One of the heart-healthy lifestyle changes in the kitchen is surprisingly sweet, with a hint of bitterness.
Dark chocolate
During Valentine’s Day, Americans spent $4 billion on chocolates and assorted confectionery, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Hopefully, you were able to have some dark chocolate, a healthier sweet that can be used as a substitute for processed sugary treats.
Dr. Haltigan said pure dark chocolate contains cacao beans which have flavonols. It’s not found in milk chocolate or white chocolate, which contain cocoa butter and sugar.
According to the Mayo Clinic, flavanols have nutrients that “support the production of nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels and improves blood flow.”
“That will help relax your blood vessels, you can have an appreciable improvement in your blood pressure,” Dr. Haltigan said. “It also seems like there’s there’s some effects on our cholesterol can it can lower our low density lipoproteins the LDL or the ‘bad’ cholesterol. In some studies, they’ve been shown to improve the HDL, the high density lipoprotein, which is the ‘healthy’ cholesterol, the kind that actually helps protect our vessels. There’s other studies that show it helps to improve memory, lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes.”
Dr. Haltigan recommends looking for a higher percentage on the label of the dark chocolate.
“An 85 or 90% dark chocolate bar versus say like a 70% dark chocolate bar, the higher percentage is going to be better,” said Dr. Haltigan. “The downside is that all forms of chocolate do have added sugar and then are just high in calories. There’s always sort of a temptation to overeat, and that cause other issues.”
She said dark chocolate is not something that will fix heart issues or should be eaten in excess.
“If people are looking to level up their milk chocolate and your chocolate you know or or or you know, eat a different type of dessert and convenient consider this even if it was just a few days a week. I think there’s probably some some benefits that they could find.”
Advocating for women
Heart-disease awareness has gone down among women, particularly among Black and Hispanic women.
Women often experience delayed recognition, diagnosis, and treatment for heart attacks, according to the CDC.
Hormonal changes can also affect a woman’s risk for coronary heart disease, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Haltigan said she always encourages women with any concerns about heart health to call a doctor to get it checked out.
“Especially women, in our society, tend to just assume they’re okay and want to put their families first. But it’s something that affects all of us as we age. We always want to think it’s not our heart, and that’s a completely common impulse because it’s such a scary thing. But it’s far better to go get checked out and be told that everything is good than to be worried, not go get checked out and then [discover] an issue,” she said.
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