Cocoa & Green Tea Compounds Counter Inflammation

Cocoa and green tea contain high levels of antioxidants, as a number of previous studies have suggested a variety of cardiovascular, brain, and skin health benefits. Whereas cocoa is rich in flavanols, green tea is abundant in polyphenols including epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).  Researchers from the US Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service (Maryland, USA) April 20 adult men and women in a study, in which each subject can send a control diet with four cocoa beverages containing between 30 and 900 mg flavanols per day, or ATP matched to a cocoa beverage for flavanol content for five days. After consumption of cocoa beverage, C-reactive protein (CRP)– a marker of inflammation, and 8-isoprostate – a marker of oxidative stress, was markedly reduced. Green tea was found to lower the inflammatory compound, fibrinogen.  Reporting that: “Short-term intake of cocoa and green tea flavanols [us] affect selected markers of one or more measures of oxidative stress, inflammation or hemostasis in obese adults at risk for insulin resistance.”