Cocoa Drinks
Phytochemicals known as flavanols, which are found in chocolate, fruits and vegetables, can boost the levels of nitric oxide in the blood of smokers and reverse some of their smoking-related impairment in blood vessel function.
While the long-term benefits of such improvements remain to be established, scientists believe that one exciting outcome of this study is the demonstration that flavanol-rich cocoa can significantly improve an important marker of cardiovascular health in a population with an established cardiovascular risk factor. This raises the possibility that a potential new agent for the prevention and/or treatment of cardiovascular disease may emerge from additional research.
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.
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. 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 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.
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.
Cocoa Drinks
