A team of researchers from the University of California, Davis, the Harvard Medical School, and the Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany have directly linked a group of chemicals called flavanols found in some cocoas, to improved cardiovascular health.
The study focused on a group of Kuna Indians located off the coast of Panama, who consume three to four cups of flavanol-rich cocoa a day. Heart disease and high blood pressure was found to be rare amongst the Kuna on the island. However, the Kuna who had migrated to the suburbs of the Panama mainland only drank four cups a week on average, and do not enjoy the cardiovascular health of their relatives, according to a UC, Davis news release.
The research shows that flavanol-rich cocoas, like flavanol-rich foods such as wine and tea, increase the levels of nitric oxide in the blood, increasing circulation through the arteries and overall cardiovascular health. Cocoa, however, has a higher rate of absorption into the blood stream, and therefore is more beneficial, researchers noted.
To read a UC, Davis news release, go to http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=7599 online.
