Dark Chocolate, Almonds, and Cholesterol

Guest blog by our amazing volunteer, Gloria Gibrael, MPH student and volunteer at Culmore Clinic. 

Last week was Valentine’s Day, and many of us may be consuming chocolate we received or are buying up all that clearance chocolate! Eating chocolate may bring guilt, but there is some good news: dark chocolate, when eaten in small amounts with almonds and unsweetened cocoa, has been linked with lowering LDL, the “bad” cholesterol. This doesn’t mean that we should be consuming large amounts of dark chocolate, hoping that it will improve your cholesterol. Instead, we can eat small amounts of almonds with dark chocolate instead of foods like frosted donuts and cake.

Always remember that portion size is key: 1/3 cup of almonds, alone or combined with ¼ cup of dark chocolate and 2 & 1/3 tablespoons cocoa a day is the recommended amount. If you want to read more about the study on chocolate and almonds, check out this website: http://www.cosmostrial.org/

For more information about heart health, check out this site.