High blood pressure is considered harmful to overall health in many ways. If it becomes uncontrolled, it can cause heart disease and in serious cases, heart attack-stroke. This is the reason why health experts advise all people to keep checking blood pressure at regular intervals and take measures to keep it under control. You don't need to have the problem of high blood pressure only after the age of 40. Many reports suggest that people of younger age, even those below 20, can also suffer from it.
Health experts say that many reasons are considered responsible for the problem of high blood pressure, among which dietary irregularities and physical inactivity are the main ones. Genetic conditions, that is, if the parents have had this problem, then the risk of it can increase in you too, so it is important to pay serious attention to your blood pressure and keep trying to control it.
Experts say that people who take more stress also have an increased risk of high blood pressure and the health problems caused by it over time.
Taking too much stress is also not good for health.
High blood pressure is dangerous and people who are often stressed can also have many types of health complications. Stress can increase your blood pressure. Due to stress, the secretion of stress hormone cortisol increases in the body. Continuously increased cortisol makes the heart beat faster and narrows the blood vessels. These conditions increase blood pressure for some time. Not only this, if stress is not paid attention to, then there is also a risk of increasing problems related to heart health.
But how to control blood pressure and stress? Let's know about this.
Always keep dark chocolate with you to keep blood pressure under control.
Always keep dark chocolate with you to keep blood pressure under control. If you feel that your blood pressure has increased, then eat some chocolate. The flavanol compounds present in dark chocolate stimulate the production of nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide helps dilate or widen blood vessels, thereby improving blood flow and lowering blood pressure.
A study conducted in 2015 examined the effects of chocolate consumption in 60 people with type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Researchers found that participants who ate 25 grams of dark chocolate daily for 8 weeks had significantly lower blood pressure than others.
Relief in stress too
Like blood pressure, there are signs of benefits of eating dark chocolate in reducing stress. It can help reduce cortisol levels, which provides relief from stress. Apart from this, eating dark chocolate can also improve brain functioning. It can also help in preventing neurodegenerative problems like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
The findings of a 2018 study suggest that the flavanols in dark chocolate promote neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to reorganize itself, keeping the brain healthy.
Many more benefits of eating dark chocolate
There are many other benefits of eating dark chocolate. It contains cocoa which is known to have many health benefits. Its benefits have also been seen in reducing free radicals in the body, improving blood flow, lowering blood pressure, reducing bad cholesterol and inflammation, improving insulin resistance, as well as improving the brain's ability to form new connections between neurons.
However, people who have been suffering from high blood pressure or stress for a long time and are undergoing treatment for it should consult their doctor before using any other remedy.
(PC: Frepeik)
