Chocolate Flavanols Lower Blood Pressure, Sterols Help Cholesterol – Study
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Eating dark chocolate containing cocoa flavanols significantly reduced systolic blood pressure while consumption of chocolate containing plant sterols lowered LDL cholesterol, according to a study published in the April Journal of Nutrition
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Eating dark chocolate containing cocoa flavanols significantly reduced systolic blood pressure while consumption of chocolate containing plant sterols lowered LDL cholesterol, according to a study published in the April Journal of Nutrition. "Importantly, these effects were observed without an adverse effect on body weight, supporting the concept that the inclusion of these types of specially formulated foods into a balanced diet may help to support cardiovascular health," according to researchers led by Robin R. Allen, of the University of Illinois Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Regular consumption of the chocolate bars with plant sterols resultedin reductions of 2.0 and 5.3 percent in serum total and LDL cholesterol, respectively, the study showed. Additionally, consumption of the cocoa flavanols, with or without the sterols, also reducedsystolic blood pressure at eight weeks (-5.8 mm Hg), the study authors said. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover studyevaluated the efficacy of daily consumption of Masterfoods' CocoaVia flavanol-containingdark chocolate bars with added plant sterols on serum lipids, blood pressure,and other heart health markers in 49 individuals with elevated serum cholesterol. The study was performed in 2005 and was sponsored in part by Mars, Masterfoods' parent company. A dietician counseled 32 women and 17 men to follow the American Heart Association-style diet for two weeks. They were randomized into two groups to control for confounders. Participants in both groups were told to eat two cocoa flavanol-containing dark chocolate bars per day with 1.1 grams sterol esters per bar or two bars without plant sterols for four weeks, then switch to the other bar for an additional four weeks. The researchers measured serumlipids and other heart health markers at baseline, after week four and week eight. Blood pressure measures were taken every two weeks. - Jessica Lake ([email protected]) |