Dark chocolates may be good for your heart's health

Dark chocolates may be good for your heart's health

The findings showed that consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa products was associated with improvements in specific circulating bio-markers of cardio metabolic health.

 

Source: The Telegraph

Chocolates have always made our hearts us happy. But now there is a scientific reason discovered behind chocolates being good for our hearts. Scientists have found that  flavanol-rich cocoa products such as dark chocolates are good for a healthy heart.

‘We found that cocoa flavanol intake may reduce dyslipidemia (elevated triglycerides), insulin resistance and systemic inflammation, which are all major subclinical risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases,’ said Simin Liu, Professor at Brown University in Rhode Islands, US.

There were small-to-modest but statistically significant improvements among those who ate flavanol-rich cocoa product versus those who did not. The greatest effects were seen among trial volunteers who ate between 200 and 600 mg of flavanols a day (based on their cocoa consumption).

They had significant declines in blood glucose and insulin, as well as another indicator of insulin resistance called HOMA-IR. Further, they also saw an increase in HDL, or “good,” cholesterol. Participants who consumed higher doses saw some of the insulin resistance benefits and a drop in triglycerides, but not a significant increase in HDL. This means dark chocolate can also help in losing weight.

For the study, the team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of cocoa consumption and included 1,139 volunteers in these trials. The results appear in the Journal of Nutrition. A bar of chocolate is looked at as unhealthy and as something that you should avoid but other than protecting your heart and helping you lose weight when consumed in moderation, dark chocolate can also alleviate a cough.

"The treatment groups of the trials included in our meta-analysis are primarily dark chocolate - a few were using cocoa powder-based beverages," said graduate student Xiaochen Lin.

"Therefore, the findings from the current study apparently shouldn't be generalised to different sorts of chocolate candies or white chocolates, of which the content of sugar/food additives could be substantially higher than that of the dark chocolate," Lin said.

The study was published in an international journal.