 |
 |
      |
|
Posted: November 27, 2007
How Sweet It Is! Chocolate Improves Blood Flow
Want one more reason to relax your health-conscious attitude towards chocolate with the approach of the holidays? Japanese researchers say they’ve found dark chocolate to improve the body’s blood flow in healthy adults.
However, the researchers, who reported their findings at the American Heart Association’s recent annual meeting, said they found no such benefit when they tested white chocolate.
Chocolate, which is rich in flavonoids in its dark form, was used in both dark and white forms in the Chiba University study on 39 healthy adults, with an average of 29, who ate 550 milligrams of one of the other variety over a two-week period.
The study tracked what's known as coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR), which is an indicator of the coronary arteries’ ability to dilate and allow more blood flow in response to administered medications.
Doppler echocardiography was used to measure CFVR at the start and end of the testing. Researchers also measured participants' blood pressure, blood lipids and two markers of oxidative stress, as a part of their approach.
After two weeks, those participants who ate dark chocolate showed significantly improved CFVR, but those who ate white chocolate showed no change, according to the study findings.
The Japanese team added, however, that because test participants realized whether they were eating dark or white chocolate, the results could have been affected, although it was not clear exactly what impact this could have made.
Email or share this story 
Search CaregiversHome
Find with keyword(s): Enter a keyword or phrase to search CaregiversHome's archives for related news topics, the latest news stories, timely times, and reference articles.
Find with keyword(s): Enter a keyword or phrase to search CaregiversHome's archives for related news topics, the latest news stories, timely times, and reference articles.
© 2007 Pederson Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Commercial use, redistribution or other forms of reuse of this information is strictly prohibited without the prior written permission of Pederson Publishing.
Commercial use, redistribution or other forms of reuse of this information is strictly prohibited without the prior written permission of Pederson Publishing.
_____
View The Caregiver's Hotline in which this article first appeared
