Cacao,
chocolade goed tegen hart- en vaatziektes.*
Uit
een studie van Medline publicaties gepubliceerd van 1966 tot 2005 met als
onderwerpen de relatie tussen cacao, pure chocolade, stearinezuur, bioactieve
stoffen zoals catechines en procyanidines en het risico op hart- en vaatziektes
blijkt dat cacao en pure chocolade de bloeddruk doet dalen, ontstekingsremmend
werkt, bloedstolsels tegengaat en het LDL (slechte) cholesterol verlaagt. Verder
blijkt dat door de bioactieve stoffen de kans op doodgaan als gevolg van
hartproblemen met bijna 20% verlaagd.
Chocolate and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A
Systematic Review
Eric L Ding, Susan M
Hutfless, Xin Ding and Saket Girotra
Abstract (provisional)
Background
Consumption
of chocolate has been often hypothesized to reduce the risk of cardiovascular
disease (CVD) due to chocolate's high levels of stearic acid and antioxidant
flavonoids. However, debate still lingers regarding the true long term
beneficial cardiovascular effects of chocolate overall.
Method
We
reviewed English-language MEDLINE publications from 1966 through January 2005
for experimental, observational, and clinical studies of relations between cocoa,
cacao, chocolate, stearic acid, flavonoids (including flavonols, flavanols,
catechins, epicatechins, and procynadins) and the risk of cardiovascular disease
(coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke). A total of 136 publications were
selected based on relevance, and quality of design and methods. An updated
meta-analysis of flavonoid intake and CHD mortality was also conducted.
Results
The
body of short-term randomized feeding trials suggests cocoa and chocolate may
exert beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk via effects on lowering blood
pressure, anti-inflammation, anti-platelet function, higher HDL, decreased LDL
oxidation. Additionally, a large body of trials of stearic acid suggests it is
indeed cholesterol-neutral. However, epidemiologic studies of serum and dietary
stearic acid are inconclusive due to many methodologic limitations. Meanwhile,
the large body of prospective studies of flavonoids suggests the flavonoid
content of chocolate may reduce risk of cardiovascular mortality. Our updated
meta-analysis indicates that intake of flavonoids may lower risk of CHD
mortality, RR=0.81 (95% CI: 0.71-0.92) comparing highest and lowest tertiles.
Conclusions
Multiple
lines of evidence from laboratory experiments and randomized trials suggest
stearic acid may be neutral, while flavonoids are likely protective against CHD
mortality. The highest priority now is to conduct larger randomized trials to
definitively investigate the impact of chocolate consumption on long-term
cardiovascular outcomes. Nutrition & Metabolism
2006, 3:2 doi:10.1186/1743-7075-3-2 (
Januari 2006)
