Special Cocoa Helps Blood Vessels

[darrels joy]

Special Cocoa Helps Blood Vessels

A daily dose of a special cocoa beverage from candy company Mars, Inc. may be able to reverse impairments in blood vessels, according to a new study conducted in Germany and published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology. What's special about the beverage is that it's rich in flavanols, compounds which occur naturally in cocoa that are usually destroyed in the manufacturing of chocolate products.

The benefits of the cocoa beverage border on the astounding.

According to the study, improvements in the health of the blood vessels of study participants who drank the beverage for just seven days could only be compared to the benefits derived from long-term statin drug therapy. The study even suggests that drinking the cocoa beverage can actually reverse impairments in the function of blood vessels.

Participants in the study were known to have impaired blood vessel function ? they were all male smokers. Their blood flow was carefully measured before, during, and at the conclusion the study.

After they had consumed 918 mg of the beverage every day for a week, the performance level of their blood vessels, which had improved daily, was restored to a level ordinarily expected in someone with no known cardiovascular risk factors. However, a week after the end of the study ? when the men had been without the cocoa beverage for seven days ? blood vessel function returned to the same low levels as before.

According to the researchers, the benefits of the beverage seem to be independent of any "antioxidant" effect associated with cocoa in previous studies. Harold Schmitz, Ph.D., who is the chief science officer at Mars, said, "This new research is the first to provide clear evidence suggesting that daily intake of this flavanol-rich cocoa could have a sustained benefit for circulatory health. This study also suggests that the effects of this flavanol-rich cocoa on blood vessels is independent of generalized 'antioxidant' actions often incorrectly reported in the media."

Several Mars products made with the flavanol-rich cocoa are currently available, including Dove Dark Chocolate.

[82Rigger]

Joy,

I'm told that it's the DARK chocolate that contains flavanols, but milk chocolate does not.

Do you know if that's correct?

[darrels joy]

Dark has more per gram/calorie/etc. of cocoa but the less processed variety has more good stuff than the overprocessed.

Dove Dark is the first one that I found out was good.

Now I have to find that drink and feed it to us every day. Darrel smokes and if I could feed him chocolate and keep him off statins which would do more harm to his liver than his beer does, I will.

I will post more good information when I find it.

Chocolate=Good What a great world.

Joy

[Jerry D]

I agree Dove Dark chocklate is good and its now good for us .

[82Rigger]

Jerry,

We should run with this!

How about bite-size dark chocolates with a Sam Adams liquid center?

[revwardoc]

Chocolate and beer! Hell yeah! But only when you've run out of pizza!

[Jerry D]

Steve that sounds good, The Germans make a good beer with chocolate also I found on the Internet Samuel Adams made a Chocolate Bock a few years back for Christmas season and in Australia they have a Belgium Chocolate Stout, a unique specialty beer brewed by Redoak.Its a rich, velvety smooth oatmeal stout infused with the finest Belgian chocolate, giving a full-bodied and irresistible bittersweet flavour with a rich chocolate aroma. This beer improves with age and warmth. Drink this delightful blend of dark roast malt and rich chocolate on its own or with your favourite dessert.I got this off their website sounds pretty good

[82Rigger]

Jerry,

Did they pay you to post that here?

[Robert Ryan]

Great that all I need now, a reason to eat more choclate.

[82Rigger]

You will all be pleased to learn that Hershey's makes a sugar-free DARK chocolate.

I tried it. It tastes just like dark chocolate.

Life is good!