Drinking Cocoa Brings Down High Blood Pressure
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Who would have Thunk it! That drinking one of life's guilty pleasures brings down high blood pressure! That's according to a study presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston in 2002. Seems cocoa contains a substance that stimulates the body's processing of nitric oxide, critical for maintaining healthy blood flow, blood pressure and overall heart health.
Flavanols found in cocoa seem appear to play a major part in the body's ability to utilize nitric oxide. Flavanols are found in cocoa, dark chocolate, purple grape juice, and tea. Studies have also shown that eating foods high in flavonoids can have beneficial effects on the heart.
The study was begun after it was found that the indigenous people of the island of Kuna, in Central America, rarely develop high blood pressure and drink an average of 5 cups of cocoa a day and include it in many of their recipes. But upon leaving their native island and moving to the mainland, their risk of high blood pressure increased.
"Nitric oxide plays such an important role in the maintenance of healthy blood pressure and, in turn, cardiovascular health," said study author Norman Hollenberg, MD, Ph.D., professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in a release.
"If our research results continue to support a link between consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa and nitric oxide synthesis, there could be significant implications for public health," said Hollenberg, in a release.
The Boston volunteers were given either cocoa that had a high or low amount of flavanols. The high-flavanol version had more nitric oxide activity.
An additional presentation given by researchers at the University of California at Davis showed that cocoa and chocolate may work similar to aspirin in promoting healthy blood flow. A comparison the effects of low-dose aspirin and a flavanol-rich cocoa beverage found that both had similar effects on preventing blood platelets from sticking together.
The study authors say those platelet effects may be related to the nitric oxide benefits found by Hollenberg's study.
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So drink up! And enjoy this flavorful way of lowering your blood pressure.
Other ways of increasing nitric oxide are taking L-Arginine, Citrulline and
working out.
I enjoy writing and thinking deeply about the important experiences of life. I'm also a guitarist, bassist, songwriter and have a B.S. in counseling psychology.
Article from articlesbase.com
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