Just in time for the holidays, some heartwarming news.
Flavanol-rich cocoa and green tea may protect your cardiovascular system against stress even after eating fatty junk food, a new study finds.
“We know that when people are stressed, they tend to gravitate towards high-fat foods,” said lead study author Catarina Rendeiro, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Birmingham in the UK. “We have previously shown that high-fat diets can impair the body’s vascular recovery from stress.
Rendeiro’s team wanted to see if adding a high-flavanol food to the high-fat meal would alleviate the effects of stress. Recent studies have found that flavanols can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and dementia.
For the new research, a group of young, healthy adults consumed two croissants with salted butter, 1 ½ slices of cheddar cheese and a high- or low-flavanol cocoa drink for breakfast.
The drink was prepared by dissolving 12 grams of cocoa powder in a cup of whole milk. The low-flavanol powder had 5.6 milligrams of flavanols per serving, while the high-flavanol cocoa powder had 695 mg of flavanols.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends that adults consume 400 to 600 mg of flavanols per day.
“Flavanols are a type of compound found in various fruits, vegetables, tea and nuts, including berries and raw cocoa,” explained Rosalind Baynham, first author of the new paper. “Flavanols are known to have health benefits, particularly for regulating blood pressure and protecting cardiovascular health.”
Participants in the study were allowed to rest after their breakfast before starting a stressful math test.
As they answered as many questions as they could in eight minutes, the researchers measured their blood flow and oxygen levels in the brain and assessed their risk of heart disease.
“This stress task caused significant increases in heart rate and blood pressure, similar to stress you might encounter in everyday life,” Baynham said.
The team found that consuming fatty foods with low-flavanol beverages during mental stress reduced circulatory system function, with effects lasting up to 90 minutes after the stressful episode.
Blood flow was significantly better with high-flavanol cocoa compared to low-flavanol cocoa half an hour and 90 minutes after the stress.
However, cocoa flavanols did not improve oxygen delivery to the brain or affect mood.
The findings were published Monday in the journal Food & Function.
“This research shows that drinking or eating a food high in flavanols can be used as a strategy to mitigate some of the impact of poorer food choices on the vascular system,” said Rendeiro. “This can help us make more informed decisions about what we eat and drink during stressful times.”
Rendeiro recommends minimally processed cocoa powder – and if cocoa isn’t your cup of tea, you can try green tea, black tea or berries.
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