Chocolade goed tegen hart- en vaatziekte.*
Uit een kleine Amerikaanse studie onder 25 mensen blijkt dat pure chocolade goed is voor het endotheel van de bloedvaten. Endotheel is het inwendig bekledingsweefsel van de bloedvaten. Het is glad en bevordert zo de bloeddoorstroming. Als dat niet het geval is, blijft cholesterol gemakkelijker hangen en wordt de bloeddoorstroming gehinderd. Pure chocolade bevat veel flavonoïden, bioactieve stoffen die ook voorkomen in groenten, fruit, wijn en groene thee. De onderzoeksresultaten suggereren niet dat mensen nu dagelijks alleen chocolade moeten gaan eten, maar duiden er wel op dat cacao en andere voedingsmiddelen die rijk zijn aan flavonoïden een gunstig effect hebben op hart en bloedvaten.
Dark
Chocolate May Lower Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease
If
you eat some dark chocolate now-and-again you could well be lowering your
chances of developing cardiovascular disease, say researchers at Yale Prevention
Research Center, Connecticut, USA. It seems dark chocolate contains flavonoids
which boost the function of endothelial cells in the lining of blood vessels.
Flavonoids, antioxidant compounds, can also be found in several fruits and
vegetables, some wines as well as several teas. The higher your flavonoid
intake, the lower you chances are of developing cardiovascular disease, say
researchers.
In this latest study researchers looked at 45 people with a body mass index
(BMI) of between 25 and 35. They were all healthy. If a person's BMI is over 30
he/she is probably obese, a BMI of over 25 indicates the person is probably
overweight.
The participants were divided into three groups:
1. This group consumed eight ounces of cocoa per day - without sugar for six
weeks
2. This group consumed eight ounces of cocoa per day - with sugar for six weeks
3. This group consumed a placebo (which was no cocoa) for six weeks
All participants had to undergo endothelial function tests during the six-week
period. By using high frequency ultrasound, the researchers were able to measure
how well the brachial artery could relax and expand, depending on the body's
desired blood flow - the test is called FMD (flow mediated dilation).
This is how the three groups fared:
1. Cocoa,
no sugar group. FMD
improved 2.4%
2. Cocoa with sugar group, FMD improved 1.5 %
3. Place group., FMD worsened 0.8%.
Team member, Dr. Valentine Yanchou Njike, said "In this group of healthy
adults with BMI between 25 and 35 kg/m2, dark chocolate ingestion over a short
period of time was shown to significantly improve endothelial function, leading
our team to believe that greater benefit may be seen through a long-term,
randomized clinical trial. 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." (April 2007)