The power of cocoa: scientists have proven that eating dark chocolate is good for the heart

More and more scientific studies show that the consumption of certain functional foods, such as dark chocolate, provides various benefits for health in general and on cardiovascular health in particular.

New large-scale research indicates that flavonoids, a compound in cocoa, can be a great ally in preventing cardiovascular disease. This was seen in the first large-scale trial designed to test the long-term effects of this cocoa compound in the prevention of these pathologies, with more than promising results: there was a 10% reduction in total cardiovascular events in people who consumed it regularly.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, was recently published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The team led by Dr. Howard Sesso and Joann Manson, both from Brigham and Women's Hospital, describe the main results of the COSMOS study, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, which tested a cocoa flavanol supplement and a multivitamin in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Although neither supplement significantly reduced the primary outcome of total cardiovascular events, people randomly assigned to receive the cocoa flavanol supplement had a 27% lower rate of cardiovascular death than the rest of the people.

“We have seen promising signs that a cocoa flavanol supplement can reduce major cardiovascular events, including death from cardiovascular disease,” said Sesso, who is conducting the randomized, placebo-controlled COSMOS study comparing the consumption of cocoa flavanol supplements against a multivitamin in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The results suggest that, if these occur, the consumption of flavanols would function as a protective factor to avoid mortality.

As Dr. JoAnn Manson, co-author of the study, explains, the totality of the evidence would indicate promising signs in the consumption of such a supplement to reduce the risk of cardiovascular mortality. “COSMOS was not an essay on chocolate, but rather, it is a rigorous trial of a cocoa extract supplement containing levels of flavonoids that a person could never realistically consume chocolate without adding excessive calories, fat and sugar to their diet,” explained the authors of paper.

In previous short-term studies, flavanols, which can be found in both cocoa and tea, grapes or berries, have already demonstrated potential benefits for cardiovascular health. This substance would contribute to the improvement of blood pressure and the better dilation of blood vessels.

The current study wanted to go one step further and investigate whether, in the long term, they could reduce cardiovascular risk and mortality when consumed as a supplement. Cardiovascular events such as acute myocardial infarctions, stroke, coronary artery revascularization, carotid artery disease, peripheral arterial surgery, unstable angina or cardiovascular mortality in general were investigated.

To this end, data from 21,000 patients who were randomly assigned to one of four groups were analyzed. In the first, they would receive a 500 mg capsule of cocoa flavanols; in the second, a multivitamin tablet; in the third, both; and in the fourth, none. In total, data from 3.6 years of follow-up were analyzed.

According to the results, flavanols reduced total cardiovascular events by up to 10%, but this was not a statistically significant result. However, several secondary analyses did detect significant benefits. Participants who consumed the antioxidants reduced their risk of cardiovascular mortality by 27%.

Those who took the capsules correctly and regularly managed to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease by 15%, and their potential mortality by up to 39%. On the other hand, the consumption of the multivitamin had no significant effect on total or individual cardiovascular events, and in none of the groups there were any safety problems with the consumption of one type of supplement or another.

What the researchers do highlight is that the consumption of the multivitamin improved levels of several nutritional biomarkers, but there were no improvements in the level of cancer risk in general. There were also no significant effects on cancer risk from flavanol supplements.

In the future, researchers plan to continue monitoring participants in a longer term, as protection against cancer needs to be investigated. Likewise, they also want to study other types of pathologies, such as cognitive impairment, falls, eye diseases and other diseases related to aging.

Another scientific study

According to a new study published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, a few squares of dark chocolate can really lift our spirits.

Researchers in Korea found that healthy adults who ate a total of 30 grams of 85% dark chocolate per day were happier, compared to healthy adults who ate chocolate with less or no cocoa. Thirty grams is about one third of a 100 g rectangle of elegant dark chocolate that you can find in supermarkets.

It is believed that the improvements in mood were related to microbial changes in the gut from eating chocolate, fecal samples suggested. However, the benefits were obtained only by eating chocolate containing a high percentage of cocoa, which are not popular milk chocolate treats that specialists recommend consuming in moderation.

Cocoa, which is used in chocolate production, is rich in fiber, iron and “phytochemicals”, powerful chemical compounds found in plants that are known to support the immune system and reduce the risk of diseases such as cancer, dementia, arthritis, heart disease, and stroke.

“So far, little has been known about the emotional effects of daily intake of dark chocolate,” say researchers at the Department of Food and Nutrition of the Faculty of Human Ecology at Seoul National University. Chocolate products with a high percentage of cocoa tend to be better for health because they contain less sugar, fat and other additives such as dyes and palm oil.

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