This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Consumption of cocoa flavanols linked to CV benefits in two studies
Consumption of cocoa flavanols, bioactives derived from the cacao bean, was associated with reductions in vascular stiffness, improved endothelial function, and lower risk for CHD and CHD-related mortality, according to new research from the Flaviola research consortium.
In the double blind, parallel-group FLAVIOLA AGE study, researchers randomly assigned 22 participants aged younger than 35 years and 20 participants aged 50 to 80 years to consume a beverage containing 450 mg of cocoa flavanols or a nutrient-matched control beverage without cocoa flavanols twice a day for 14 days. All patients were healthy, nonsmoking, white men with no history of CVD.
The primary endpoint was endothelial function, as indicated by flow-mediated vasodilation. Secondary endpoints included cardiac output, vascular stiffness, conduit, and resistance artery conductance and microcirculation perfusion.
Flow-mediated vasodilation was improved from baseline in the flavanol group among both younger participants (6.1 ± 0.7% vs. 7.6 ± 0.7%; P < .001) and elderly participants (4.9 ± 0.6% vs. 6.3 ± 0.9%; P < .001). Those who consumed cocoa flavanols also had reductions in pulse wave velocity and total peripheral resistance, with additional improvements in vasodilator capacity, red cell deformability and diastolic BP. Elderly participants also exhibited decreases in systolic BP after consumption of cocoa flavanols. The researchers observed no effect on cardiac output.
In a similarly designed, double blind, parallel group Flaviola Health pilot study, researchers randomly assigned 100 healthy men and women aged 35 to 60 years with no CVD history to consume the cocoa flavanol-containing beverage or a control beverage twice daily for 1 month, with flow-mediated vasodilation as the primary endpoint and BP and plasma lipid levels as secondary endpoints.
Compared with controls, participants who consumed the cocoa flavanol-containing beverage had a 1.2% increase in flow-mediated vasodilation at 1 month, 4-mm Hg decrease in systolic BP, 3.9-mm Hg decrease in diastolic BP, 0.4-m/s decrease in pulse wave velocity, 0.2-mmol/L reduction in total cholesterol, 0.17-mmol/L reduction in LDL and 0.1-mmol/L increase in HDL.
The estimated 10-year risk for CHD decreased by 21%, risk for CVD decreased by 22% and risk for MI decreased by 31% among patients who consumed cocoa flavanols compared with controls.
The researchers concluded that these findings “support the notion that [cocoa flavanol] intake has the potential to support the maintenance of CVD health. Furthermore, our data add to the accumulating body of evidence regarding the health benefits of dietary flavanols and procyanidins in general, thus contributing to evidence-based assessments of potential future dietary guidelines for these bioactives.” – by Adam Taliercio
Disclosure: Several researchers report serving as senior investigators in the Flaviola research consortium. One researcher is an employee of Mars Inc., which provided unrestricted grants along with the standardized test drinks used for both studies.