While there have been several studies touting the antioxidant effects of chocolate, this study found that chocolate also contains flavonoids, a compound that promotes vascular health, according to research published in Friday's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"What we observed is that the chocolate that was rich in flavonoids, in theory, may improve vascular tone – it relaxes blood vessels," Carl Keen of the University of California, Davis, told United Press International.
"The flavonoids contain polyphenolic phytochemicals that inhibit vascular and inflammatory processes that contribute to [coronary] disease," he said.
Ten health subjects consumed 37 grams of chocolate containing high and low levels of procyanidin in treatments separated by a week. After two hours, plasma concentrations of procyanidin metabolite were increased by 20 times for those who ate the high-procyanidin chocolate.
After six hours, all of the subjects' leukotriene/prostacyclin ratios had returned to preconsumption levels.
The researchers found the same changes in leukotriene/prostacyclin ratios were obtained in cultured human aorta cells exposed to procyanidin.
The chocolate with the high-procyanidin levels used in the study was Dove dark chocolate. The Mars Corporation produced the low-procyanidin chocolate through processing, according to Keen.
"Different food processing techniques can alter the level of procyanidin greatly in chocolate," Keen said. "While flavonoids are found in a variety of foods, such as fruits, nuts and especially in berries, the concentrations and type of flavonoids are unusual in chocolate."
Keen stressed that while the benefits of chocolate are becoming more well-known, servings should be in moderation and the best health benefit is to eat a variety of foods. However, he said that if the research continues in this vein, chocolate producers may someday indicate on their product that it is high in flavonoids.
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