Cocoa Flavonols Boost Vascular Function

A late-breaking presentation at the European Society of Cardiology’s Heart Failure Congress 2010 by Swiss researchers reports that patients with congestive heart failure may benefit from a diet including a daily dose of chocolate. Within just two hours of consuming 40 grams of chocolate, flow-mediated vasodilatation rose significantly while platelet adhesion markedly decreased.  Consumption of 80 grams over the course of four weeks yielded a beneficial gain in flow-mediated vasodilatation of nearly 2%, to stand at 6.86%.   Andreas Flammer, from University Hospital (Zurich, Switzerland), and colleagues observe that the preferred form of chocolate is one containing a high content of flavonols, the antioxidant compound thought to give the food its heart-healthy benefits.