Dark chocolate helps lower blood pressure, heart disease risk - aarp bulletin

DEFINING DARK CHOCOLATE   HOW MUCH COCOA SHOULD IT HAVE TO BE HEALTHY? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration defines the categories of chocolate based on their content of cacao, or cocoa

solids. The higher the percentage of cocoa solids, the more heart-healthy flavonoids the chocolate contains. To choose the healthiest dark chocolate, check the label: It should say the

chocolate contains 60 to 70 percent cacao. These chocolates are often called bittersweet or extra bittersweet; they contain a small amount of sugar for flavor and a healthy amount of

flavonoids. Here, then, is dark truth about chocolate: Unsweetened chocolate: 100 percent cacao. Bittersweet chocolate: 35 to 99 percent cacao; must contain at least 35 percent unsweetened

chocolate and less than 12 percent milk solids; the broadest category, it can include products called bittersweet, semisweet, dark, extra dark or extra bittersweet. Sweet chocolate: 15 to 34

percent cacao; must contain at least 15 percent unsweetened chocolate and less than 12 percent milk solids; sometimes also called dark chocolate, although it has a lower percentage of cocoa

solids than bittersweet. Milk chocolate: Contains at least 10 percent unsweetened chocolate, 12 percent milk solids, 3.39 percent milk fat.