Cocoa And Heart Health

Recent studies have shown that ingestion of cocoa or dark chocolates over a short period of time may help lower blood pressure, improve blood vessel function, and may even reduce cardiovascular risk.

A study by Dr. Valentine Yanchou Nike of the Yale Prevention Center in Connecticut reported that dark chocolate ingestion over a period of time has shown improvement in arterial function and believed to give greater benefits to the heart. Researchers say it is probably due to the flavonoids, specifically flavan-3-ols, the potent antioxidant present in cocoa. Dark chocolates or cocoa products are considered one of the most concentrated sources of flavonoids. These antioxidants are thought to protect the body against other diseases associated with oxidative stress including cancers and cardiovascular diseases. this lead the researchers to believe that the more the ingestion of these foods, the less the risk of developing a problem of the blood vessels and the heart.

Another research with similar result, a Dutch study by Dr. Brian Buijsse and colleagues of the National Institute for Public health and the Environment in Bilthoven, examined the corellations between cocoa and cardiovascular health in 470 men aged 65 to 84 years over a 15-year period. Findings showed that men who ingested highest amounts of cocoa were 50 percent less likely to die from heart disease compared to those who had less or no cocoa at all.