People may have already heard that consumption of dark chocolate is actually good for your health. Now a team of researchers claim that compounds contained in cocoa may help dilate blood vessels by forming nitric oxide in the body.
In 2015, a team of researchers linked consumption of cocoa with a decreased risk of heart diseases. The benefit of cocoa is primarily associated with the compounds present in it, flavanols or polyphenol. These compounds are believed to improve the vascular health of the consumer by increasing the blood flow in the body, according to NPR.
The researchers believe that these compounds facilitate the formation of nitric oxide in the blood, which, in turn, is helpful in dilating the blood vessels. According to Dr. David Katz of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, dark chocolate improves the ability of the blood vessels to dilate than they actually should, and this is exactly what helps prevent against health diseases.
However, the benefits of dark chocolate that the researchers are referring to are different from the chocolate derived from the popular American candy bars that people seem to love the most. It is full of calories and is often associated with weight gain in women.
This triggered researchers to see if there is any way to derive the benefits of cocoa without any additional calories. This is the reason why researchers are now recruiting volunteers for a four-year research to study the effect of the cocoa extract. As of now, the team is looking for women aged above 65 and men aged above 60 years of age.
Nearly 50 percent of the participants will get to consume a capsule containing cocoa extract. It would not taste anything like chocolate and would contain as much cocoa as what people get from consuming 1,000 calories of dark chocolate.
The remaining 50 percent of the participants will consume a placebo. None of the subjects would have the information whether they are taking cocoa extract or placebo pills.
The team would then see whether cocoa extract actually helps reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, cognitive decline, and other conditions over a period of time.
