According to a new study, just 30 calories a day of dark chocolate will lower your blood pressure by a couple of points without weight gain.

That’s about one Hershey’s Kiss a day.

I don’t mean to rain on anyone’s 2- or 3-point parade. But who in the world can eat only one Hershey’s Kiss or its equivalent every day?

Isn’t that like trying to eat one Lay’s Potato Chip?

It can’t be done. At least, not by the average human.

Let’s face it. If you’ve got the willpower to eat 30 calories of chocolate AND stop AND it doesn’t bother you, then you probably aren’t prone to high blood pressure or weight gain in the first place.

Me? That bag of Kisses is history. With an M&M chaser just to be sure I’m getting all my health benefits.

Actually, Milk Chocolate Doesn’t Work

Only dark chocolate.

But you already know that if you got question #7 right in my June 8th post, “Healthy Eating Tips: Test Your Food I.Q.”

Wait! I published this information on June 8th and months before that in my diet book, I Love To Cheat?

Am I psychic?

No. The news that dark chocolate reduces blood pressure is OLD news.

In my book, I talk about how we combined supposedly blood pressure-lowering foods to reduce my mother’s systolic blood pressure (the top number) by 36 points and her diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) by 20 points.

So forgive me if I’m not impressed by the 2- or 3-point drop in this study. They’re rehashing old news and their results aren’t that impressive.

Here’s What Is Impressive

Like many fruits and medicinal plants, chocolate is rich in flavonoids.

Prior studies have shown that dark chocolate also lowers cholesterol, improves blood flow and cardiovascular health, decreases blood clots, helps memory, and reduces depression.

There’s even research that links chocolate with love.

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, a “happy” neurotransmitter that is released during times of euphoria… including feelings of love.

The Downside

Fat, sugar, calories.

If you eat too much chocolate, you’ll gain weight. That’s a no-brainer.

But I still don’t believe it’s necessary to restrict yourself to a 30-calorie portion if you’re trying to lose weight.

In fact, I think that just tempts you to eat more and blow your diet.

Either eat a satisfying amount or don’t eat it at all. But to tease yourself with 30 calories of chocolate a day, that’s silly.

Especially for a minor drop in blood pressure.

I think these researchers tried to hype their results because they had nothing new or impressive to report.

And of course, they’ll need to do more studies.

But why doesn’t that surprise me?