Try Three Cocoas a Day to Keep Diabetes at Bay
Posted on: Monday, 2 June 2008, 18:00 CDT
A CUP of enriched cocoa may help improve the working of blood vessels in diabetic patients, according to researchers. Doctors prescribed three mugs of specially formulated cocoa a day for a month, and found "severely impaired" arteries regained normal function.
The German study, featured in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, suggests chemicals called flavanols may be responsible. But charity Diabetes UK said eating normal chocolate would not work. People with diabetes are at greater risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart disease and strokes, partly due to the effects of high blood sugar on the linings of blood vessels, which stops them being able to expand as much when needed by the body.
This can result in higher blood pressure, which can then cause further problems.
While a healthier lifestyle can reduce the risks, it often does not solve the problem completely.
Cocoa naturally contains flavanols, antioxidant chemicals that are also found in some fruit and vegetables, green tea and red wine.
Flavanols have previously been linked with health benefits by other studies.
The type of cocoa used in the study cannot be found in the shops and is a version enriched with far higher concentrations of the chemicals.
Ten patients were told to drink the cocoa three times a day for 30 days, and a special test was used to measure the function of their blood vessels.
The ability of the vessels to expand in response to a demand for extra blood from the body appeared to increase almost i mmediately.
(c) 2008 Evening Chronicle - Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Evening Chronicle - Newcastle-upon-Tyne
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