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(Hypertension. 2005;46:e17.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.

Hypertension Electronic Pages

Hypertension, Diabetes

Department of Pharmacology, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

To the Editor:

I have read with interest and acknowledge the recent article by Grassi et al¹ published in your journal. The authors supported evidence that dark chocolate decreased blood pressure and serum LDL cholesterol and ameliorated insulin sensitivity in hypertensives. The authors claim that flavanols from cocoa products may provide these benefits if included as part of a healthy diet for patients with essential hypertension.

Without doubt, cacao beans, a main ingredient of chocolate (more so in dark chocolate), contain >600 plant chemicals, including antioxidant phytochemicals such as flavonoids, which may protect against heart disease and other maladies. Unfortunately, I was unable to recognize any evidence in this study of a causal relationship between these flavonoids and the patients’ outcome. Thus, the question arises whether the effects shown are induced by ingredients of dark chocolate other than flavonoids or, at best, whether the effects seen are the result of a multifactorial interaction of substances present in cocoa.

Dark chocolate is known to be rich in magnesium, concentrations being in the range of 300 mg/100 g. Thus, a bar of this chocolate supplies the recommended daily allowance of magnesium. Magnesium is considered a physiological calcium antagonist. There are many reports describing effects of magnesium in hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases as well as in insulin action and metabolic syndrome.^2,3 Recently, a round table discussion has been reported in which issues of renal magnesium clearance, magnesium and arrhythmic risk, ion balance in heart failure, diabetes, ischemic stress, oxidative stress in the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Davide Grassi

Department of Internal Medicine and Public Health, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy

Jeffrey B. Blumberg

Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts

Giovambattista Desideri; Claudio Ferri

Department of Internal Medicine and Public Health, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy