Benefits of Dark Chocolate

1. Dark Chocolate Cuts Stroke, Heart Disease Risk

Eating flavanol (Phytochemicals, which are found in chocolate, fruits and vegetables) Flavanol-rich dark chocolate has been found to protect against the risk of heart disease and stroke by improving platelet function within two hours of consumption according to a new study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research.

Researchers at the University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health examined the effects of consumption of dark chocolate that was enriched with cocoa extract in the blood of 42 healthy volunteers, 26 women and 16 men. They compared platelet function of the participants who ate enriched dark chocolate with those who ate dark chocolate that contained a lower cocoa and flavanol content, and white chocolate.

Blood and Urine samples were obtained and analysed two hours and six hours after chocolate consumption. They found the dark chocolate enriched with flavan-3-ols significantly decreased platelet activation and aggregation in men, but only decreased platelet aggregation in women.

"Taken together, these findings support the notion that flavanol-rich foods, including cocoa products, may help to promote cardiovascular health," Dr. Kelm said.

2. Dark Chocolate helps in increasing endothelial function of SMOKERS…

The researchers studied smokers because their blood vessels tend to respond poorly to changes in blood flow, possibly related to impairments in how nitric oxide sends signals to the inner lining, the endothelium, of blood vessels. This impaired endothelial function is a marker for increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

A dozen smokers (six men and six women) in their early 30s, who did not have any known health problems, were enrolled in the double-blind crossover study to compare the effects of a cocoa drink rich in flavanols to a cocoa drink that tasted the same, but contained very low levels of flavanols. One woman was excluded from the analysis because she had high cholesterol levels. Circulating nitric oxide levels and blood vessel responses (flow-mediated dilation) were measured before drinking the cocoa and again two hours later. Each participant drank flavanol-rich and flavanol-poor cocoa drinks during different testing sessions.

There were significant increases in circulating nitric oxide and flow-mediated dilation after ingestion of drinks containing 176 to 185 milligrams of flavanols, a dose potentially exerting maximal effects. These changes correlated with increases in flavanol metabolites. In addition, the improvements were reversed when the participants were given a drug (L-NMMA) that interferes with nitric oxide signaling, thus supporting the idea that the flavanol-rich cocoa drink produced its effects by influencing the nitric oxide system.

However, he said the main point of the study was to identify the active ingredients so that they can be studied further. The researchers pointed out that the cocoa drink they used was specially processed to retain much higher levels of flavanols than are typically found in commercially-available cocoa drinks; so it is unlikely that drinking more hot chocolate would produce a similar effect.

Even though this study involved only 11 participants, lead author Christian Heiss, M.D., Ph.D., pointed out that the results were in agreement with other studies indicating potential benefits from flavanol-rich foods, including cocoa and chocolate.

"Therefore, we feel that there exists an increasing body of evidence for an acute effect of flavanol-rich foods on vascular reactivity. Nevertheless, the conclusion drawn from these results have to be interpreted with caution, because it is not known whether or not the chronic consumption of flavanol-rich foods leads to sustained increases in endothelial function, and the prevention of future cardiovascular events. In particular in smokers, it is unlikely that cocoa can completely attenuate the deleterious effects of continued smoking," Dr. Heiss said.

The researchers emphasized that this study was not designed to investigate whether flavanols could protect smokers; smokers were enrolled because they tend to have abnormal blood vessel responses.

Mary B. Engler, Ph.D., who is also at the University of California in San Francisco, but was not connected with this study, noted that it is the first such study in smokers to demonstrate that endothelial function improved after drinking cocoa with high levels of flavonoids.

The study has helped to identify the optimal concentrations, potential mechanisms and the role of biologically active metabolites of the cocoa flavonoids in the improvement in vascular function in smokers.

Dr. Engler emphasized that quitting smoking is the best way to reduce heart disease risk. She also pointed out that many foods and beverages contain a substantial amount of the same flavonoids (flavanols-epicatechin, catechin) found in cocoa and dark chocolate. These foods include green and black tea (especially Ceylon tea), red wine, sweet cherries, apples, apricots, purple grapes, blackberries, raspberries and broad beans.

Professor Gerd Heusch, M.D., at the Universitätsklinikum Essen in Essen, Germany, who also was not connected to this research effort, said the study indicates that flavonoids have an effect on the same nitric oxide system that is damaged by smoking.

3. Dark Chocolate helps in preventing the development of Atherosclerosis

A flavanol- rich drink is capable of increasing nitric oxide levels in the blood and reversing the detrimental effect of smoking on vascular adaptation. It remains to be seen whether the acute beneficial effect of a flavanol-rich drink translates into a long-term benefit, in terms of attenuating or preventing the development of atherosclerosis.

4. Dark Chocolate helps in Improved thinking, Decreased appetite, obesity, as well as type-2 diabetes.

Andrew P. Neilson and colleagues explain that cocoa, the basic ingredient of chocolate, is one of the most flavanol-rich foods around. That's good for chocolate lovers because previous research has shown that flavanols in other foods such as grapes and tea can help fight weight gain and type-2 diabetes. But not all flavanols, which are a type of antioxidant, are created equal. Cocoa has several different kinds of these compounds, so Neilson's team decided to tease them apart and test each individually for health benefits.

The scientists fed groups of mice different diets, including high-fat and low-fat diets, and high-fat diets supplemented with different kinds of flavanols. They found that adding one particular set of these compounds, known as oligomeric procyanidins (PCs), to the food made the biggest difference in keeping the mice's weight down if they were on high-fat diets. They also improved glucose tolerance, which could potentially help prevent type-2 diabetes. "Oligomeric PCs appear to possess the greatest antiobesity and antidiabetic bioactivities of the flavanols in cocoa, particularly at the low doses employed for the present study," the researchers state.

5.Dark Chocolate helps in Lowering blood pressure

In particular dark chocolate which contains higher levels of flavanols than milk chocolate, may protect against the risk of cardiovascular disease by lowering blood pressure, blood flow, and improving blood lipid levels.

Cocoa contains compounds called flavanols, thought to be responsible for the formation of nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide causes blood vessel walls to relax and open wider, thereby reducing blood pressure. The link between cocoa and blood pressure stems from the discovery that the indigenous people of San Blas Island in Central American, who drink flavanol-rich cocoa drinks every day, have normal blood pressure regardless of age. However, flavanol concentrations in cocoa and chocolate products vary according to cocoa processing procedures and types of chocolate, so it is difficult to establish the optimal dosage for an effect.

To investigate the effect of flavanols on blood pressure, the researchers reviewed data from trials in which people consumed dark chocolate or cocoa powder containing between 30-1080 mg of flavanols in 3-100 g of chocolate each day. Altogether, 856 people were involved in 20 trials lasting 2-8 weeks, or in one case, 18 weeks. Flavanol-rich chocolate or cocoa powder reduced blood pressure on average by 2-3 mm Hg.

“Although we don’t yet have evidence for any sustained decrease in blood pressure, the small reduction we saw over the short term might complement other treatment options and might contribute to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease,” said lead researcher Karin Ried of the National Institute of Integrative Medicine in Melbourne, Australia, who worked with colleagues at the University of Adelaide.

In a subset of trials, when chocolate or cocoa powder was compared to flavanol-free-products as controls, the beneficial effects were more pronounced (3-4 mm Hg), whereas the researchers found no significant effect on blood pressure in the second subset with low-flavanol products as control. It is possible that low-flavanol products also have a small effect on blood pressure, so that it was harder to observe differences between high and low-flavanol products in these trials. However, results of these subsets of trials may have been influenced by trial length and blinding of participants, as trials using flavanol-free control products tended to be of shorter duration with participants knowing their allocated group.

“We’ll also need to see long term trials, including effects on the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease, before we can come to conclusions regarding clinical outcomes and potential side effects of long-term consumption,” said Ried. “These trials should use flavanol-free products in the control groups to eliminate any potential effects of low-dose flavanol on blood pressure.”

So go ahead and be a Chocoholic!!!!