Researchers found that six weeks of daily consumption of a dark chocolate cocoa mix significantly improved the blood vessel health of those who participated in the study.
The study is the latest in a growing number that link reduced heart disease risk to flavonoids in dark chocolate and other food and beverages, such as red wine, green tea and dark colored fruits and vegetables.
“There are hundreds if not thousands of flavonoids in every plant substance we eat”, said James Stein, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
“This is a very hot are. This study confirms what other investigators have found”.
Flavonoids have been found to relax blood vessels and thereby improve blood flow, inhibit platelets from sticking together in the blood, and have beneficial antioxidant effect. What still is not known in whether regularly eating dark chocolate, especially with its sugar and fat content, eventually will lead to an unhealthy weight gain that would erase the beneficial effects of the flavonoids found in the cocoa.
Cocoa is one of the most concentrated sources of the flavonoids catechin and epicatechin.
Consuming foods such as dark chocolate and red wine can be a double-edged sword, Stein said.
They shouldn’t be considered healthy foods, he said. “They are treats and shouldn’t be staples in the diet.”
“If they are used to replace a high-calories food with little or no nutrition, such as soda, then they may be beneficial,” he said.
The study involved 39 people with an average age of 52 who, on average, were mildly obese.
There were three six week sessions, and each person consumed a separate preparation in each session: a Hershey dark chocolate cocoa mix with sugar (230 calories); a Hershey mix that was artificially sweetened (45 calories).
Doctors used ultrasound to measure blood flow in an artery in the arm, a test that corresponds well to heart disease risk.
The artificially sweetened cocoa mix was associated with about a 37 percent improvement in blood flow. The sugared cocoa was associated with a 23 percent improvement, suggesting that sugar actually interferes with the beneficial actions of flavonoids. The placebo mix resulted in a 12 percent reduction in blood flow.
This tells you that it (cocoa) is cardio-protective said lead author Valentine Njike, a physician and researcher at Yale University School of Medicine.
He noted that the biggest effect was found with the cocoa that did not have sugar. And he said that other research indicates that milk chocolate does not have a beneficial effect.
Rosenson also said that the beneficial blood flow effect of cocoa usually diminishes with six hours, meaning that it might have to be consumed several times a day to obtain a continuous improvement.
For that reason and due to concern about calories, the ultimate answer may come in the form of a so-called biopharmaceutical, a pill that contains concentrated amounts of the desired flavonoids and no fat or sugar, he said,AE.
Curiosities about chocolate:
Chocolate drops blood pressure
A square of dark chocolate a day reduces blood pressure in healthy people ages 56 to 63 have borderline hypertension.
How much benefit?
Average drop of 2.9 in systolic and 1,9 in diastolic blood pressure.
Why does it happen?
Cocoa contains polyphenois. which make blood vessels relax.
High-calorie?
One square (6,3g) of chocolate contains only 30 calories.
Vocabulary:
Flavonoid (s): Any of a large group of water-soluble plant pigments, including the anthocyanins, which are beneficial to health (qualquer membro do grande grupo de pigmentos de plantas solúveis em água, como as antocianina que fazem bem a saúde).
Hot area: New and exciting area or issue, of intense and immediate interest (area ou tema novo e empolgante que provoca interesse imediato e intenso).
Platelet (s): A tiny colorless disk-shaped particle found in large quantities in the blood and playing an important part in the clotting process (minuscule particular incolor em formato de disco encontrada em grandes quantidades no sangue e que desempenha um papel importante no processo de coagulação).
Double-edged sword: Something that has or can have both favorable and unfavorable consequence (algo que tem ou pode ter consequências favoráveis e desfavoráveis).
Treat (s): An especially unexpected source of joy, delight, or amusement (fonte inesperada de alegria, prazer ou diversão).
Staple (s): Basic food (alimento básico).
Whey: The watery liquid that separetes from the solid part of milk when it turns sour or when enzymes are added in cheese making (liquido aquoso que se separa da parte sólida do leite quando este azeda ou quando enzimas são adicionadas para a produção do queijo).
The lead author: The most important or main author: O autor é o mais importante ou o principal
Diminishe (s): decrease in size, extent, or range (diminue em tamanho, extensão ou alcance).
