Dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate - may help reduce blood pressure and boost the body's ability to metabolize sugar from food, according to the results of a small study. After eating only 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate every day for 15 days, 15 healthy people had lower blood pressures and were more sensitive to insulin, an important factor in metabolizing sugar. In contrast, eating roughly the same amount of white chocolate for the same period of time did not affect either blood pressure or insulin sensitivity. This is not the first study to demonstrate potential health benefits of dark chocolate, which contains high levels of a kind of antioxidant called flavonoids. Research shows that flavonoids that can help maintain a healthy heart and good circulation and reduce blood clotting, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.

　　一项小规模研究的结果表明，黑巧克力可能有助于降低血压、促进人体对食物中的糖分的代谢能力，而白巧克力则没有这些功能。在连续15天每日食用100克或3.5盎司黑巧克力之后，15名健康的受试者的血压有所降低，而且对胰岛素更为敏感--胰岛素是促进体内糖分代谢的重要成分。相比之下，同样在15天中食用大致相同数量的白巧克力对血压和胰岛素的敏感性并没有影响。这已经不是有关黑巧克力可能有益健康的第一项研究。黑巧克力富含一种叫作类黄酮的抗氧化剂，研究表明类黄酮有助于保持心脏的健康和血液循环的畅通，并减少可能导致心脏病和中风的血栓。