Why is black chocolate good for heart?

(scienceinfo.net) - Black chocolate is good for the body, that's right, and now scientists know why this type of chocolate is good for the body.

Black chocolate helps restore the flexibility of blood vessels , while preventing white blood cells from sticking to blood vessel walls . Both arterial stiffness and white blood cells that bind to blood vessel walls are known to be an important cause of atherosclerosis. Furthermore, the scientists also found that increasing the concentration of flavanol in black chocolate did not alter this effect. Flavanol is a plant compound that has antioxidant effects.

'We provide a more complete picture of the effect of chocolate intake on blood vessels, and show that increasing flavanol levels do not add to the benefits of cardiovascular health,' said Dr. Diederik Esser, a Among those who participated in research from the Food and Nutrition Institute and Wageningen University, Department of Human Nutrition at Wageningen School, Netherlands. 'However, increased flavanol levels have a clear effect on taste and therefore the motivation for eating these black chocolate bars. So black chocolate is a healthy food '.

To reach this conclusion, Esser studied 44 overweight middle-aged men in two stages after four weeks when these people ate 70 grams of chocolate a day. Participants were asked to eat dark chocolate or chocolate with high flavanol content or regular chocolate. Both types of chocolate have the same cocoa content. Before and after both interventions, the researchers conducted a series of assessments of important cardiovascular health indicators.

During the study, participants were asked to avoid using high-energy foods to prevent weight gain. The scientists also evaluated the sensory properties of chocolate with high flavanol content and regular chocolate, and collected the motivation scores of the participants in the study to eat these types of chocolate throughout the course of the year. research.

'Until the "black chocolate medicine" is produced, let's just eat this healthy food that nature has given us!' , Gerald Weissmann said.