Short-Term Consumption of a Dark Chocolate Containing Flavanols is Followed by a Significant Decrease in Normotensive Population

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the primary chronic disease afflicting industrialized societies today. Development of atherosclerosis, thrombosis and hypertension is a multifactorial process in which endothelial dysfunction, inflammatory response, modified lipids and lipoproteins and activated platelets all play significant roles in the process. Numerous epidemiologic studies support the concept that regular consumption of foods and beverages rich in antioxidant vitamins and flavonoids is associated with a decreased risk of CVD mortality, specially hypertension. Foods that have been identified as having a high polyphenolic flavonoid content include many fruits and vegetables such as apples and onions, teas (green and black), red wines and certain chocolates. The purpose of this paper is to determine changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure due to the intake of calculated amount of dark and white chocolate and to investigate its effects on the anthropometric measures. Eighty nine females with mean age of 21.45±19.8 years (from 18-25 years) were included in this study. The studied populations were divided into three groups; group I included thirty females who received 100 gram of dark chocolate (Galaxy, containing .500 mg polyphenols) every day for fifteen days, group II included thirty females who received 90 gram of white chocolate (Galaxy, containing no polyphenols) every day for fifteen days and group III included twenty nine females who were prevented from any type of chocolate for fifteen days. Along our sample population, two blood pressure readings and several anthropometric measures were recorded. After fifteen days of ingestion of dark chocolate, there was statistically significant lowering in the systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p<0.05) comparing with no effect to ingestion of white chocolate. There was no significant difference between groups among anthropometric measures before and after administration or avoidance of any chocolates (p>0.05). As expected, the serum lipid concentrations were in the range of normality with no significant differences between groups (p>0.05). Current dietary studies indicate that short-term administration of dark chocolate (but not white chocolate) is followed by a significant decrease in blood pressure in healthy persons. These findings indicate that dark chocolate may exert a protective action on the vascular endothelium.