Phuket Health: Doctor's orders ? eat dark chocolate | Phuket News

Posted by phuketnews on Jul 26, 2012 in phuketgazette | 0 comments

PHUKET: Scientists have known for a very long time concerning the protective effects of this ?magic food? on atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

I call it ?magic food? since the full official name of the major component in dark chocolate is Theobroma Cocoa or ?Food of God? ? from the Greek words theo (God) and broma (drink).

Supposedly, cocoa was considered for a very long time beneficial for its effects on improving heart function, protecting against coronary artery disease, reducing insulin resistance, lowering blood pressure, and plenty more. The speculation behind the serendipity of dark chocolate is its bioactive flavonoid substances ? particularly their subclass, the flavanol compounds.

This food has a protracted history. The cocoa drink is among the common beverages among a specific tribe in Panama. The Kuna Indians, islanders near the Panama Canal, habitually drink greater than 4 to five cups of ?unprocessed? cocoa each day. Surprisingly, many of the Kuna Indians have never had hypertension or heart problems.

However, when a number of them migrated to Panama City, there have been higher incidences of hypertension. This means that the traditional blood pressure during this specific population shouldn?t be the results of their strong genetics per se, however the relevant lifestyles and environments instead. This fact underscores the significance of the ?unprocessed? natural cocoa as a health food.

The above finding triggered some researchers to delve more into what?s behind the chocolate serendipity. numerous evidence points to a set of gear called flavanols. In general, the cardiovascular protective effect of a dismal chocolate bar will depend on what number flavanol compounds are within that bar. Which means just the darkness of chocolate won?t automatically imply it has cardio protective properties.

Without enough flavanol content, eating the seemingly dark chocolate is futile on your health. Also, it?s possible that cocoa may lose a lot of its flavanols in the course of the manufacturing process before becoming commercial chocolate bars ? those which contain sugar and milk besides just cocoa. Actually, it?s the difference between the processed and unprocessed natural cocoa that renders the industrial chocolate less beneficial to cardiovascular health.

But what are these ?magic? flavanol compounds?

Flavanols are a subset of a bigger family of drugs called flavonoids, which might be present in many ?healthy-heart? beverages inclusive of tea and red wine. It?s these flavanol compounds that give chocolate a bitter taste ? that is why most manufacturers attempt to process natural cocoa right into a sweet confection that almost destroys these compounds.

Flavanol rich compounds exert their effects via the mechanism involving nitric oxide production. Nitric oxide has long been known for its strong anti-atherosclerotic activity at the vascular wall. Among the many main actions of nitric oxide is to avoid platelet aggregation and vascular endothelial dysfunction ? the precondition for atherosclerotic development.

Therefore, in theory, dark chocolate, that?s high in flavanol compounds, should mitigate atherosclerotic cardiovascular risks by reducing oxidative stress within the cardiovascular system.

Actual clinical benefits of flavonoids are mundane and feature been published for greater than twenty years. In 2008, cardiovascular research found protective effects of cocoa on heart problems through antioxidant mechanisms and inhibitory action against thrombin at the vascular wall. One study showed dark chocolate improves coronary
vascular functions, increases the diameter of coronary arteries and decreases platelet aggregation via its antioxidant properties.

Abnormal platelet function is a trademark of atherosclerotic disease ? inhibiting this may decrease the probabilities of atheromatous plaque development.

There are many studies that support a blood pressure lowering effect of dark chocolate, that may be potentially applicable for extensive prevention and management programs for hypertensive populations.

Moreover, many research results also suggest beneficial effects on insulin sensitivity, lipid abnormality and brain perfusion. All of those studies play the most important role in confirming the effectiveness of eating dark chocolate for cardiovascular health.

A mere percentage of high cocoa content, say greater than 50 per cent, has nothing to do with the particular amount of flavanols in any respect. One shouldn?t ever rely only at the cocoa percentage within the chocolate for its cardiovascular preventive effects. We have to stress more the proportion of the particular compounds ? the flavanols. Especially, the Kuna Indians living in Panama City who consume commercial chocolate have a standard incidence of hypertension corresponding to other populations around the world ? in stark contrast to those that continue to consume natural cocoa with Its extraordinarily high flavanols.

Unfortunately, most commercial chocolate products don?t reveal the real flavanol contents on their packages.

Most up-to-date studies don?t specify anything concerning the exact flavanol content of their clinical trials.

Lack of well-controlled clinical and experimental data undermine the justification of consuming dark chocolate as an ordinary public health policy.

More in-depth and strictly controlled studies are had to better define the possibility of this divine food.

Dr.Sanya Thiengburanatham is an experienced academic and cardiovascular & thoracic surgeon. Currently, he works at Bangkok Hospital Phuket. He could be contacted at sanya_theing@yahoo.com.

by phuketgazette

Source: http://www.phuketnews.asia/2012/07/phuket-health-doctors-orders-eat-dark-chocolate/

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