Chocolate Relaxes Heart

Chocolate Relaxes Heart

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

By Miranda Hitti

Antioxidants in cocoa might help your heart by keeping your blood vessels relaxed, thus easing blood pressure and helping circulation.

So says a study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study shows that cocoa’s antioxidants -- called flavonoids -- coax the body into making more nitric oxide, which relaxes the blood vessels.

The researchers included Norman Hollenberg, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He tells WebMD that cocoa’s flavonoids could improve heart health.

Dark Chocolate Is Healthy Chocolate

Don’t Reach for a Mug Yet

Though several products already contain flavonoid-rich cocoa powder, a flavonoid-rich cocoa drink isn’t one of them yet, says Hollenberg.

Dark Chocolate May Cut High Blood Pressure

What About Chocolate?

Chocolate also contains flavonoids, “but the problem with chocolate is the burden of fat it carries,” Hollenberg says.

“So it’s hard to make chocolate a health food, whereas the cocoa has the fat squeezed out of it, so it could be a health food,” he continues.

“Now, I’m hoping that people actually make a flavonoid-rich cocoa that will be available for sale and that people incorporate into their diets. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m hoping it will,” says Hollenberg.

The study he worked on was backed by candy maker Mars Inc. Here is an overview of the tests that were done and their results.

By Miranda Hitti, reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

For the complete article on this, go to: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182092,00.html

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