Chocolate lovers rejoice! A new study has found that cocoa flavanols may help prevent high blood pressure in people with normal systolic blood pressure.
Chocolate often times gets a bad rap as a decadent dessert delight but the right kind of chocolate that is rich in cocoa flavanols may just be your heart's best friend.
Study results were recently published in Hypertension. 8,905 adults with an average age of 71 and who had normal blood pressure were involved in the study. Some of the participants took a cocoa-extract supplement that consisted of 500 mg/day of flavanols and 80 mg of epicatechin while others received a placebo and the participantsin both groups were followed over an average time of 3.4 years.
Overall, researchers did not find a notable reduction in incident hypertension in the full group but in the subgroup whose systolic blood pressure at baseline was less than 120 mmHg, the cocoa extract did reduce incident hypertension when compared to those receiving the placebo. This effect was seen starting at around the second year of follow-up within the subgroup.
The takeaway from the study is that for people with normal blood pressure, adding flavanol-rich cocoa may help maintain healthy blood pressure when implemented along with other healthy lifestyle habits including diet and exercise.
