Dark Chocolate Enhances Artery Dilation

An explanation as to why it is good for you. Is this in your hospital diet? Wouldn't you want your brain arteries dilated to get that life-saving oxygen to your damaged neurons? But since I bet nothing is being done your doctor and hospital don't care enough to even understand the problem and fix it.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/PeripheralArteryDisease/46613?
A couple of interesting paragraphs from here:
Dark Chocolate Enhances Artery Dilation
IC involves impaired blood flow to the limbs, especially during exercise.
"Endothelial dysfunction, reduced glucose oxidation, accumulation of toxic metabolites, impaired nitric oxide (NO) generation, and oxidative stress seem to play a role among the factors contributing to reduce blood flow in PAD," the researchers wrote.
In previous studies, these researchers and others have found that dark chocolate enhanced artery dilation by lowering NOX2, which is the catalytic subunit of nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidates, which exert vasoconstrictor activity in human and animal models.
The goal of the Loffredo group's latest work was to determine whether eating dark chocolate could improve walking autonomy in PAD patients with IC.
The single, blind, crossover study included 20 patients (14 males, 6 females) who routinely exhibited IC symptoms after walking less than 200 meters (Fontaine stage IIb) and who were in stable condition without abrupt changes in walking distance and ankle brachial index (ABI) in the month prior to entry.
The patients were randomized to "treatment" with 40 grams of dark chocolate (>85% cocoa) or milk chocolate (<35% cocoa) in a crossover, single-blind design, with at least 1 week of washout between the study's two phases.
Flow-mediated dilation (FMD), oxidative stress, serum levels of NOx and epicatechin (EC) were assessed at baseline, after 24 hours' abstinence from food rich in polyphenols, and 2 hours after ingestion of chocolate.
Fasting blood samples were drawn and analyzed early in the morning (8 a.m.) and ABI and FMD were also performed. At 9 a.m. a first treadmill test was performed and 2 minutes after maximal walking distance (MWD) and maximal walking time (MWT) were measured, ABI was measured again.
At 9:25 a.m. the participants were given the chocolate (40 grams), and they had 15 minutes to eat it. At 11:25 a.m. blood samples were again drawn to analyze oxidative stress and epicatechin levels. At 11:30 a.m. a second ABI at rest and FMD were performed, and at 11:50 a.m. the participants underwent a second treadmill test. Once again, ABI was performed 2 minutes after MWD and MWT were measured.