Reader sings the praises of chocolate for health benefits

Q. I've got a comment about the dark chocolate controversy on whether it is irresponsible to recommend chocolate for health benefits. I started eating Hershey's dark chocolate when it was on sale a few weeks ago. I enjoy about five of the little squares twice a day. Both my systolic and diastolic blood pressure numbers went down about 15 or 20 points each.
A. Chocolate will never substitute for blood pressure medicine, but some data support your experience. Studies have demonstrated modest benefits of cocoa and dark chocolate in lowering blood pressure (Hypertension, August 2005; Archives of Internal Medicine, Feb. 27, 2006).
Your reaction to chocolate is much greater than average. The amount needed to affect blood pressure ranges from 10 g (the size of one Ghirardelli chocolate square) to 100 g (the size of a Ritter Sport bar).
Q. My sister-in-law has begun to have increasingly frequent migraines and is considering using feverfew to see if it helps. She gets serious side effects from prescription medicines. Are there any drugs that interact with feverfew?
A. Feverfew has the potential to interact with a great many medications, especially blood thinners such as Coumadin (warfarin), aspirin or Plavix (clopidogrel). No one should take feverfew with prescription medications unless a physician supervises closely and checks for safety.
A reader shared her success with this herb: "I started taking feverfew for migraine headaches in 1998 and haven't had a migraine since then. When I have a colonoscopy, I stop taking the feverfew to reduce the risk of bleeding."
Q. Can you stand another toenail fungus cure? I found one that works for me after trying them all, including prescription Lamisil pills.
I read somewhere that oil of oregano will kill anything, so I tried putting a drop down between the nail and the skin every day. Slowly but surely the toenail is growing out normally! I hope someone else can benefit from this as well.
A. Thanks for the recommendation. Here's one from another reader: "When examining me my doctor noticed that I had nail fungus affecting toes on each foot. He recommended that I make a batter by mixing cornmeal and water in a shallow pan, let it sit for an hour, and then soak my feet for an hour. Do this once a week for a month.
"If the fungus is not gone, apply Vicks VapoRub once a week for a month. I did the cornmeal therapy for three weeks and the fungus was gone. I don't know why it works, but it's cheap, harmless, and it worked for me."
We have collected a number of remedies for nail fungus and other common problems.
Cornmeal seems to have anti-fungal activity. We have heard from gardeners who use it to fight black spot on roses.
Q. When I add up the amount of vitamin D in my multivitamin and calcium tablets, it comes to a total of 1,000 IU vitamin D each day. Is that too much?
A. Many experts think that is a good dose. A study showed that women with high levels of vitamin D, equivalent to taking 1,000 IU daily, had the lowest risk of breast cancer.
In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.
& copy; 2006 King Features Syndicate Inc.