Calm Down with Cocoa

Robert W. Griffith, MD

Chocolate lovers will be happy - there's more good news about how their objet d'amour can improve health. Blood pressure appears to respond favorable to cocoa, but not tea, according to a meta-analysis reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

German researchers in Cologne searched the medical literature, and found 5 randomized controlled studies of cocoa administration and another 5 for tea (black or green). Coca drinks given to 173 subjects for an average of 2 weeks lowered the systolic blood pressure by 4.7 mm Hg, and the diastolic pressure by 1.8 mm Hg, on average. Tea, on the other hand, had no effect on blood pressure in 343 subjects.

The magnitude of the effect of cocoa on blood pressure is clinically relevant - it's in the range usually achieved with a beta-blocker or an ACE-inhibitor given on its own. And cocoa has been reported to help control blood sugar in diabetes, in mice.

Both cocoa and tea are rich in polyphenols. It may be that the polyphenols are more 'bioavailable' in cocoa, or that they have a different composition. The polyphenols in coca are rich in procyanidins, while black and green tea are rich in flavan-3-ols and gallic acid. So now we know. But most of us will drink cocoa because it tastes better (except when we are watching our calorie intake!).

Source
HealthandAge Blog

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