High blood pressure and cholesterol can lead to serious cardiovascular diseases: stroke, heart attack, etc.
- According to a new study, eating very dark cocoa can reduce blood pressure and bad cholesterol.
- On the other hand, according to this new data, dark chocolate has no effect on weight.
- Excess cholesterol is harmful to health and can lead to myocardial infarction, stroke or lower limb arteritis in the long term.
Consumption of cocoa extract or very dark chocolate reduced several cardiovascular risk factors according to a new study.
The researchers also found that cocoa consumption had no effect on weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, triglycerides, “good” HDL cholesterol and HbA1c (an important biomarker of diabetes, editor’s note).
Dark chocolate reduces overall cholesterol by 8.35 mg/dL
Their work involved 31 randomized trials and 1,986 participants divided into two groups. The first consumed either cocoa extract or dark chocolate (70% or more) for four weeks. The second group ate either placebos, milk chocolate or white chocolate over the same period.
People in the trials were all aged 18 or over. The majority had one or more health conditions such as metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, prehypertension or hypertension, excess weight, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.
For the group members who ingested dark chocolate, the analysis revealed on average:
– a reduction of 8.35 mg/dL in overall cholesterol;
– a 4.91 mg/dL reduction in fasting blood glucose;
– a reduction of 2.52 mmHg in systolic blood pressure;
– a reduction of 1.58 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure.
Dark chocolate, blood pressure and cholesterol: what are the issues?
Blood pressure is considered normal when it is less than 140/90 mmHg at the doctor’s office. “When blood pressure is taken by self-measurement, it is normal when it is less than 135/85 mmHg. This data does not have a constant value in the same person”, specifies Health Insurance.
Excess cholesterol is harmful to health and can lead to myocardial infarction, stroke or lower limb arteritis in the long term. “In France, cholesterol is the cause of one in two heart attacks and nearly 20% of the adult population has hypercholesterolemia,” noted the French Federation of Cardiology.
Most of the cholesterol needed by the body is made by the liver while the rest is provided by diet. “There are not two cholesterol molecules but rather two proteins responsible for its transport in the body via the blood,” completes the French Federation of Cardiology.
