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Dark chocolate may improve walking autonomy for patients with PAD
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Polyphenols such as dark chocolate may help improve walking autonomy for patients with peripheral arterial disease. However, the same benefit was not observed with consumption of milk chocolate, according to a new report.
The mechanism behind improved walking autonomy and polyphenols is “possibly related to an oxidative stress-mediated mechanism involving NOX-2 regulation,” Lorenzo Loffredo, MD, from Viale del Policlinico in Rome, and colleagues wrote in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The study included 20 patients with PAD (14 men; mean age, 69 years). Researchers studied the participants’ maximal walking distance, maximal walking time, flow-mediate dilation, serum levels of isoprostanes, nitrite/nitrate (NOx) and sNOX2-dp, which is a marker of blood NOX-2 activity, according to the abstract. Participants were randomly assigned to consume 40 g dark chocolate (>85% cocoa) or 40 g milk chocolate (≤35% cocoa) and instructed to walk on a treadmill in the morning and again 2 hours later after eating the chocolate.
According to the results, dark chocolate consumption increased maximal walking distance by 11%, maximal walking time by 15% and serum NOx by 57% (P<.001 for all), and decreased serum isoprostanes by 23% (P=.01) and sNOX2-dp by 37% (P<.001). None of these measures improved in the group assigned milk chocolate.
Nitric oxide levels were higher and other biochemical signs of oxidative stress were lower when patients ate dark chocolate, which may indicate that polyphenols may reduce oxidative stress and improve blood flow, according to the researchers.
The improvements were modest, but the benefit of dark chocolate polyphenols is “of particular relevance for the quality of life of these patients,” Loffredo said in a press release.
The researchers concluded that these findings need to be confirmed in a larger study that evaluates long-term consumption of polyphenols.
Mark A. Creager
According to American Heart Association spokesman Mark A. Creager, MD, it is too early to recommend polyphenols or dark chocolate for CV health.
“Other investigations have shown that polyphenols including those in dark chocolate may improve blood vessel function. But this study is extremely preliminary and I think everyone needs to be cautious when interpreting the findings,” Creager, director of the vascular center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in the release.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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