Pure
chocolade voor betere bloeddoorstroming.*
Uit een kleine studie onder 45 personen blijkt dat pure chocola de bloeddoorstroming duidelijk kan verbeteren. Het resultaat was al goed meetbaar na 6 weken eten van bijna 230 gram chocolade per week.
Chocolate
improves blood vessel function: study
Chocoholics were given further reason to
rejoice on Saturday when a small clinical study showed that dark chocolate
improves the function of blood vessels.
While the researchers cautioned against
bingeing on bon bons, they said the findings of the trial were clear and called
for larger such studies to confirm the results.
"In this sample of healthy adults, dark
chocolate ingestion over a short period of time was shown to significantly
improve (blood vessel) function," said Dr. Valentine Yanchou Njike of Yale
Prevention Research Center, a co-investigator of the study.
The results, presented at the annual American
College of Cardiology scientific meeting in New Orleans, add to mounting
evidence of the health benefits of dark chocolate.
During the 6-week trial, 45 people were given
8 ounces (227 grams) of cocoa without sugar, cocoa with sugar or a placebo each
day.
An upper arm artery's ability to relax and
expand to accommodate increased blood flow -- known as flow mediated dilation (FMD)
-- was measured using high-frequency ultrasound before and after daily cocoa or
placebo consumption.
Of the 39 subjects who completed the trial,
FMD improved significantly in both cocoa groups -- by 2.4 percent among those
who had it without sugar and 1.5 percent among those who had it with sugar. It
dropped 0.8 percent in the placebo group.
"While the findings from this study do not suggest that people should start eating more chocolate as part of their daily routine, it does suggest that we pay more attention to how dark chocolate and other flavonoid-rich foods might offer cardiovascular benefits," Njike said. (Reuters) (April 2007) (Opm. Meer over chocolade en over bloeddoorstroming.)