With the cholesterol-lowering class of drugs known as statins being widely promoted for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, despite their having over 300 documented adverse health effects (including heart failure!), how does chocolate sound as a viable, heart-friendly alternative?
Ask most women and they'll tell you that a good dose of chocolate really takes the edge off. It’s not a joke. Science confirms that eating dark chocolate helps relieve emotional stress and also lowers blood pressure.
Valentine's Day, the holiday traditionally associated with love, is most notably celebrated with chocolate. For the true chocoholic, just thinking about chocolate can evoke pleasure, though the body's physical response is likely due to one or more of the cacao bean's more than 380 known chemicals