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Critical Care Nurse. 2007;27: 17-18
Copyright © 2007 by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
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Letters to the Editor

Chocolate and our heart

The editorial, "The Truth Is Often Bittersweet: Chocolate Does a Heart Good" (February 2007:11–15), was both informative and entertaining. It is not often that I can laugh and learn at the same time while reading a journal with serious content that encompasses critical care nursing.

For the past 8 years, in my role as cardiac rehabilitation nurse, I have had to answer patients’ questions such as, Is it OK for me to have a piece of chocolate once in a while? As nurses, we serve as a source of confession and information, so it is helpful to be able to offer more accurate and scientifically proven advice. Recently, a patient told me she could visualize the chocolate she had eaten over the holidays as it was clogging up her arteries, so she threw it all away. She was as serious as an alcoholic confessing to having a drink.

The February editorial inspired me to do some further investigation on the topic of chocolate. In a study conducted at Johns Hopkins University,1 1200 participants were asked to abstain from chocolate for 24 to 48 hours. Of the participants, 139 were not able to avoid the temptation, which raises the question whether chocolate is addictive. The blood tests revealed that those who gave in to the urge of chocolate had lower levels of thrombaxane, indicating reduced platelet clumping.

When supporting cardiac patients obtain a heart healthy lifestyle, we must be careful not to claim that chocolate is a health food, as mentioned by Davis2; however, we can remind our patients that most things in moderation will not kill them. Perhaps I can give a scientific twist to the sin of having a piece of chocolate by reassuring patients that it may improve cognitive performance, reduce overall mortality, lower blood pressure, make the blood less thick, and enhance blood flow. In addition, as Rosenberg3 points out, we should remind our patients that flavanols, which are responsible for cardiovascular benefits, can also be found in vegetables, fruits, tea, and red wine.

It is ironic that February is the month when we are encouraged to think of ways to take special care of our heart as well as the most popular time to think about chocolate. Now we are equipped with the knowledge to unleash some guilt of our own if we choose to indulge in a bit of chocolate. I certainly have been sustained through a few long shifts as a critical care nurse by a dose of chocolate.

Thank you for your continued commitment to the education of critical care nurses.

References

  1. Damlo S. Quantum sufficit. Am Fam Phys. 2007;75:394.
  2. Davis C. Sweet solution. Nurs Stand. 2006;21(14):21–23.[Medline]
  3. Rosenberg I. Dark chocolate may help hypertension. Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter. October 2005;23(8):1–2.
Bibliography

Hosmer C. Does eating chocolate harm the heart? Harvard Heart Letter. November 2003;14(3):8.

Soref A. Sweet news about chocolate. Better Nutrition. 2006;68(10):60–62.

Robin Wollard, RN, BSN, CCRN
 Sedalia, MO





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