Foods rich in flavanols – such as cocoa products, tea, wine, and various fruits and vegetables – have a cardio-protective benefit for heart disease patients, according to a new study. Photo Credit: Microsoft ClipartJuly 08, 2010, (Sawf News) - Foods rich in flavanols – such as cocoa products, tea, wine, and various fruits and vegetables – have a cardio-protective benefit for heart disease patients, according to a new study.
The study by UCSF cardiologists and researchers found that high concentrations of cocoa flavanols decrease blood pressure, improve the health of blood vessels and increase the number of circulating blood-vessel-forming cells in patients with heart disease.
Findings will be published online July 5th and in the July 13, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).
Flavanols are phytonutrient compounds that are found naturally in apples, grapes, tea, cocoa and cherries, which account for the antioxidant effect provided by red wine and green tea. The study found a protective effect from a cocoa drink with 375 mg of flavanols, but according to researchers, a standard or recommended dosage has not yet been defined to achieve optimal health benefit.
The UCSF team has shown for the first time that flavanol's most likely assist the body's repair process after vascular injury, and perform function and maintenance roles in the thin layer of cells that line the interior wall of blood vessels.
"Reduced blood vessel function is a hallmark of early development of coronary artery disease," said cardiologist Yerem Yeghiazarians, MD, senior author, associate professor of medicine, and researcher in the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF.
"If we can improve the health and function of damaged blood vessels, heart disease patients will have a better chance of survival."
In the current study, the benefit achieved by flavanols was similar to that achieved by therapy with statins and with lifestyle changes such as exercise and smoking cessation.
The benefit demonstrated with cocoa flavanol therapy occurred in addition to the medical regimen already being taken by study participants.
The study included 16 coronary artery disease patients aged 64 years (±three years) who received a high-flavanol cocoa drink (containing 375 mg of flavanols) twice a day over 30 days and then a nutrient-matched low-flavanol cocoa drink (containing 9mg flavanols) twice a day over 30 days.
The study was randomized, controlled and "masked", meaning both the doctors and patients were prevented from knowing which variation of the cocoa drink a patient was drinking at a given time until after the study was completed. The patients continued taking all regular medications for their underlying heart disease during the study period, including statin medications for lowering the cholesterol levels to recommended goals.
Researchers calculated the outcome of the cocoa intervention using blood pressure readings, ultrasound to measure dilation of the brachial artery, and cell assays to calculate the number and behavior of circulating angiogenic cells. The tests showed a 47 percent improvement in vasodilation, or widening rather than constriction, of the brachial artery in the high-flavanol time period compared to the low-flavanol period. In addition, circulating angiogenic cells increased 2.2-fold and systolic blood pressure decreased among the high-flavanol versus low-flavanol periods.
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