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Cocoa, Blood Pressure, and Vascular Function

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Abstract

The consumption of a high amount of fruits and vegetables was found to be associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Epidemiologically, a similar relationship has been found with cocoa, a naturally polyphenol-rich food. Obviously, double blind randomized studies are difficult to perform with cocoa and chocolate, respectively. However, intervention studies strongly suggest that cocoa has several beneficial effects on cardiovascular health, including the lowering of blood pressure, the improvement of vascular function and glucose metabolism, and the reduction of platelet aggregation and adhesion. Several potential mechanisms through which cocoa might exert its positive effects have been proposed, among them activation of nitric oxide synthase, increased bioavailability of nitric oxide as well as antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. It is the aim of this review to summarize the findings of cocoa and chocolate on blood pressure and vascular function.

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Acknowledgments

Work of the authors was partly supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant Nr. 32000BO-109905/1 to R.C.) The authors received an unrestricted research grant by Nestlé.

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No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiovascular Center Cardiology, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, CH-8091, Zurich, Switzerland

    Isabella Sudano, Andreas J. Flammer, Susanne Roas, Frank Enseleit, Frank Ruschitzka, Roberto Corti & Georg Noll

  2. Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic and College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA

    Andreas J. Flammer

  3. Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Frank Ruschitzka, Roberto Corti & Georg Noll

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  1. Isabella Sudano
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  2. Andreas J. Flammer
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  3. Susanne Roas
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  4. Frank Enseleit
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  5. Frank Ruschitzka
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  6. Roberto Corti
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  7. Georg Noll
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Correspondence to Georg Noll.

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Sudano, I., Flammer, A.J., Roas, S. et al. Cocoa, Blood Pressure, and Vascular Function. Curr Hypertens Rep 14, 279–284 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-012-0281-8

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