2007年VOA标准英语-Dark Chocolate Possible Prescription for High B

By Carol Pearson
Washington
04 July 2007
 

Researchers have found that chocolate – dark chocolate – is good for your heart. They say it may stave off hardening of the arteries¹ among smokers², and it has more antioxidants per gram than red wine, green tea or berries. The latest study on chocolate shows it may be better for you than you think and that some people may even want to eat chocolate for medicinal purposes. VOA's Carol Pearson has the latest.

Chocolate lovers take heart.  Doctors have known for some time that chocolate is good for you -- dark chocolate, that is.

"Our dark chocolate is 73 percent pure cocoa," says Sam Aboulhosn, who makes handmade, European-style chocolates at his chocolate shop near Washington, D.C.  Although people buy his chocolate for its taste, not its medicinal value.

Researchers have found that eating some dark chocolate every day could help reduce high blood pressure. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  Dr. Dirk Taubert and colleagues at University Hospital of Cologne gave chocolate to 44 otherwise healthy people with high blood pressure.  This is what they found: "The dark chocolate reduced the systolic blood pressure, the top reading of the blood pressure, by 2.9 units, and the diastolic blood pressure, the bottom reading of blood pressure by 1.9 units. The white chocolate had no effect on blood pressure," added Dr. Taubert.

Can chocolate be considered medicine?

Other studies show milk chocolate, white chocolate, or dark chocolate eaten with milk do not have the same benefits as plain dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate contains chemicals called polyphenols. Dr. Taubert says polyphenols in dark chocolate seem to increase the production of a substance in the body called nitric oxide³, which causes the blood vessels⁴ to widen, making more room for the blood to flow and lowering blood pressure. 

"Our study,” says the doctor, “provides sufficient evidence to recommend low amounts of polyphenol-rich dark chocolate as an addition to a healthy diet."

That's good news for people who have high blood pressure.

"That's a wonderful reason to have dark chocolate," adds a chocolate lover.

But some people may not like the taste. "There's a simple rule,” explains Dr. Taubert. “The [more] bitter the chocolate tastes, the more polyphenols [the] chocolate will contain."

And one other thing:  no one in the study gained weight because the researchers found that only a very small amount -- seven grams of dark chocolate -- was sufficient to lower blood pressure by a few points.

"We were indeed surprised that such a low amount of chocolate could efficiently⁵ reduce the blood pressure," said Taubert. Which is good, because chocolate contains a lot of fat. 

Dr. David Katz is a weight control specialist. He warns people not to eat too much of a good thing. "If you over indulge, then the benefits no longer win out."

And gaining weight is not good for people with high blood pressure.

1 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

3 oxide   

n.氧化物

参考例句：

• Oxide is usually seen in our daily life.在我们的日常生活中氧化物很常见。
• How can you get rid of this oxide coating?你们该怎样除去这些氧化皮？

4 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。