Impact of cocoa flavanol consumption on blood pressure responsiveness to exercise

Abstract

Impaired endothelial vasodilatation may contribute to the exaggerated blood pressure (BP) responses to exercise in individuals who are overweight/obese. The present study investigated whether consumption of cocoa flavanols, which improve endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), can modify BP responsiveness to exercise. Twenty-one volunteers (eight females and thirteen males, 54·9 (SE 2·2) years, BMI 31·6 (SE 0·8) kg/m 2 , systolic BP 134 (SE 2) mmHg, diastolic BP (DBP) 87 (SE 2) mmHg) were randomised to consume single servings of either a high-flavanol (HF, 701 mg) or a low-flavanol (LF, 22 mg) cocoa beverage in a double-blind, cross-over design with 3 -7-d washout between treatments. Two hours after cocoa consumption, FMD was measured, followed by continuous beat-to-beat assessment (Finaprese) of BP before and during 10 min of cycling at 75 % of age-predicted maximum heart rate. Averaged data from two assessments on each type of beverage were compared by analysis of covariance using pre-exercise BP as the covariate. Pre-exercise BP was similar after taking LF and HF (153 (SE 3)/88 (SE 3) v. 153 (SE 4)/87 (SE 2) mmHg, respectively, P.0·05). However, the BP response to exercise (area under BP curve) was attenuated by HF compared with LF. BP increases were 68 % lower for DBP (P¼ 0·03) and 14 % lower for mean BP (P¼ 0·05). FMD measurements were higher after taking HF than after taking LF (6·1 (SE 0·6) % v. 3·4 (SE 0·5) %, P, 0·001). By facilitating vasodilation and attenuating exercise-induced increases in BP, cocoa flavanols may decrease cardiovascular risk and enhance the cardiovascular benefits of moderate intensity exercise in at-risk individuals.

Native foods from Brazilian biodiversity as a source of bioactive compounds

“…Other species were confirmed as having laxative, hepatoprotective and hypolipidemic properties. The species that was submitted to the highest number of studies was T. cacao L., which seeds showed anticancer (Jourdain, Tenca, Deguercy, Troplin, & Poelman, 2006;Ohno, Sakamoto, Ishizuka, & Fujita, 2009), antidiabetic (Ruzaidi, Amin, Nawalyah, Hamid, & Faizul, 2005), anti-inflammatory (Kim et al, 2010), antioxidant (Crozier et al, 2011;Sakagami et al, 2008;Sarmadi, Ismail, & Hamid, 2011;Spadafranca, Martinez, Sirini, & Testolin, 2010), cardioprotective (Allen, Carson, Kwik-Uribe, Evans, & Erdman, 2008;Balzer et al, 2008;Berry, Davison, Coates, Buckley, & Howe, 2010;Buijsse, Feskens, Kok, & Kromhout, 2006;Fisher, Hughes, Gerhard-Herman, & Hollenberg, 2003;Grassi et al, 2008;Heiss, Dejam, & Kleinbongard, 2003;Jia et al, 2010;Rein, Paglieroni, & Wun, 2000;Wang-Polagruto et al, 2006) (data not show in Table 1). …”

Cocoa and Chocolate in Human Health and Disease

“…Crews et al did not observe any change in BP among healthy men and women over the age of 60 who consumed both a cocoa beverage and dark chocolate daily for 6 weeks (providing a total of 754.71 mg proanthocyanins), relative to those consuming low-flavanol control products (45). However, Berry and colleagues demonstrated that consumption of a high-flavanol (701 mg) cocoa beverage could significantly improve BP response to exercise compared to a low-flavanol (22 mg) beverage (21).…”

Behavioural effects of compounds co-consumed in dietary forms of caffeinated plants

“…A number of observational studies have demonstrated a negative relationship between habitual cocoa intake and blood pressure (53 -55) . This is supported by cocoa intervention studies showing a reduction in blood pressure in healthy participants (56,57) , as well as in participants who are overweight (58,59) and in those with evidence of glucose intolerance or cardiovascular risk factors (60 -63) .…”