Heart-healthy compound in chocolate identified

The flavonol epicatechin found in chocolate is being credited with improving heart-healthy benefits of certain cocoas and some chocolate products. Researchers from the University of California, Davis; the the Heinrich-Heine University of Duesseldorf, Germany; and Harvard Medical School hope the findings will lead to new dietary or medicinal methods for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health.

Their study showed that epicatechin was directly linked to improved circulation and other hallmarks of cardiovascular health. Findings of the study are reported in the January 16 online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The results of this study provide direct proof that epicatechin is, at least in part, responsible for the beneficial vascular effects that are observed after the consumption of certain flavanol-rich cocoas," says UC Davis biochemist Hagen Schroeter, who co-authored the paper along with cardiologist Christian Heiss of the Heinrich-Heine University.

Key to the study were volunteers from the Kuna Indians, who live on the San Blas islands off the coast of Panama. High blood pressure and other signs of cardiovascular disease are rare among the island-dwelling Kuna, who are also known to consume large amounts of flavanol-rich cocoa—three to four cups per day. However, previous studies carried out by Norman Hollenberg's research team at Harvard Medical School have found that Kuna who have migrated to the suburbs of Panama City on the mainland consume only about four cups of cocoa per week and, interestingly, do not enjoy the same level of cardiovascular health.

Through analyses of urine samples from members of both the island-dwelling and mainland Kuna, the researchers found that, compared to their mainland counterparts, the urine of island dwellers had more than twice the levels of urinary nitric oxide—a chemical compound already known to be associated with healthy flow of blood through the arteries.

Levels of nitric oxide in the blood were higher in individuals who drank flavanol-rich cocoa, compared to those who drank cocoa beverages with low flavanol levels. This showed that flavanols contained in the cocoa were actually absorbed and subsequently present in the bloodstream.

Higher levels of the flavanol epicatechin in the bloodstream were accompanied by improved blood flow.

Heart-healthy compound in chocolate identified