Polyphenols are natural antioxidants found in foods such as fruits, vegetables, tea, chocolate, and wine. They have many health benefits, including reduced inflammation, aid blood circulation, lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol and blood sugar.
Cocoa is one of the richest sources of polyphenols, with powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the processing and heating of cocoa can cause it to lose these beneficial properties. Cocoa is also often alkaline treated to reduce bitter taste, resulting in a 60% reduction in polyphenol content.
So while cocoa is an excellent source of polyphenols, not all cocoa-containing products will provide equal health benefits.
Cocoa, both in powder form and in dark chocolate form, can help lower blood pressure. This finding was first recorded among the cocoa islanders of Central America. People who regularly drink cocoa have much lower blood pressure than those who don't drink cocoa. The flavanols in cocoa are believed to improve nitric oxide concentrations in the blood, enhance the function of blood vessels and reduce blood pressure.
The effect of lowering blood pressure is more evident in people who already have high blood pressure and in the elderly than in those without the disease and in the young. However, it is important to remember that processing significantly reduces the amount of flavanols, so the effect may not be apparent from the chocolate bars in general.
In addition to lowering blood pressure, cocoa also has other properties that may reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Cocoa is rich in Flavanols, has the ability to improve the level of nitric oxide in the blood, relaxes and relaxes the arteries and blood vessels and improves blood flow.
Moreover, cocoa also helps to reduce bad LDL cholesterol, thin the blood similar to aspirin, improve blood sugar and reduce inflammation. This helps to reduce the risk of heart attack, heart failure and stroke
Two Swedish studies show that if you eat 19-30 grams of chocolate per day, the rate of heart failure will be lower. However, if you eat more than the recommended amount above, it will not give better effect. This proves that regular consumption of a small piece of cocoa-rich chocolate can help protect your heart.
Several studies have shown that foods high in polyphenols like cocoa can reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases by improving brain function and blood flow.
In addition, flavanols affect the production of nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessel muscles, improves blood flow and supplies blood to your brain.
A two-week study in 34 elderly people, when supplemented with cocoa flavanols, showed an 8% increase in blood flow to the brain after one week and 10% after two weeks. Further studies show that daily use of cocoa flavanols can improve mental performance in both the sufferer and the mentally impaired.
These studies show a positive role for cocoa in brain health and positive effects in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
In addition to cocoa's positive effects on age-related mental degeneration, its effects on the brain can also improve mood and depressive symptoms.
The positive effects on mood can be due to the fact that cocoa flavanols convert tryptophan into serotonin, which naturally stabilizes mood due to its caffeine content, or simply when eating chocolate is often happy.
One study of chocolate consumption and stress levels in pregnant women found that regular chocolate consumption reduced stress and improved mood in babies after birth.
Furthermore, another study found that drinking cocoa polyphenols helped improve calmness and increase feelings of satisfaction. Additionally, one study in older men found that eating dark chocolate improved overall health and enhanced psychological well-being.
Many people believe that eating a lot of chocolate is definitely not good for blood sugar control, but on the contrary, cocoa has some anti-diabetic effects.
Test-tube studies have shown that cocoa flavanols can slow down digestion and absorption of carbohydrates in the gut, improve insulin secretion, reduce inflammation and stimulate the absorption of sugar from the bloodstream into muscles.
Adding a high amount of flavanols in foods like cocoa helps to lower your risk of type 2 diabetes. One human study found that eating dark chocolate or high-flavanol-rich cocoa could reduce insulin sensitivity, improve blood sugar control and reduce inflammation in people with diabetes and non-diabetes.
It is quite surprising that cocoa supplementation, even in the form of chocolate, can help you manage your weight. Cocoa helps regulate energy use, reduces appetite, reduces inflammation and increases fat oxidation and increases feelings of fullness.
One large-scale study found that people who consumed chocolate more frequently had lower BMIs than those who ate less, even though this group previously also ate more calories and fat.
Additionally, a weight loss study using a low-carbohydrate diet found that a group of subjects supplemented with 42 grams of dark chocolate with 81% cocoa per day resulted in faster weight loss compared to a group that only applied the diet. regular diet.
Flavanols in fruits, vegetables and foods have attracted a lot of attention from the scientific community due to their anti-cancer properties, low toxicity and few adverse side effects.
Cocoa has the highest concentration of flavanols of all the foods listed above. In vitro studies show that cocoa has anti-inflammatory effects, inhibits the growth of cancer cells and helps prevent the spread of cancer cells.
Animal studies using a cocoa-rich diet have shown positive results in reducing cancers of the breast, pancreas, prostate, liver and colon and throat cancers.
Human studies have shown that diets high in flavanols lower the risk of cancer. However, the evidence of cocoa's effects on cancer reduction is conflicting because some studies have not found the expected results and even increase the risk of cancer.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes obstruction, inflammation of the airways and can be life-threatening. Cocoa may be beneficial for people with asthma, as it contains anti-asthma compounds, like theobromine and theophylline.
Theobromine can help treat a persistent cough. 100 grams of cocoa can provide 1.9 grams of theobromine. Theophylline helps your lungs relax, your airways relax and reduce inflammation.
Animal studies have shown that cocoa extract can reduce both airway constriction and tissue thickness. However, these findings have not been clinically tested in humans and it is not clear whether cocoa is safe when used with other anti-asthma drugs.
Cocoa contains many compounds with antibacterial, anti-enzyme and immunostimulating properties, good for oral health. However, most cocoa products on the market contain sugar. Therefore, new products should be developed to promote cocoa's oral health benefits.
Cocoa polyphenols have shown significant benefits for the skin. Long-term consumption of cocoa has been shown to help protect against the sun, increase blood circulation on the skin and improve surface texture and increase skin hydration.
The European Food Safety Authority recommends adding 2.5 grams of flavanol cocoa powder or 10 grams of dark chocolate containing at least 200 mg of flavanols to the diet each day to achieve cardiovascular health benefits.
However, this number has been considered by some other researchers to be too low, not enough for cocoa to promote cardiovascular benefits. In general, it is important to choose cocoa sources with a high content of flavanols - the less processing, the better.
Produced from International UTZ certified cocoa pods from “flavored” cocoa seeds grown in Dong Nai. Trong Duc's cocoa powder (18% butter ratio) will be the best choice for you to enjoy a full cup of cocoa with the right flavor, bitterness, slightly greasy, and a bit of a mild sour residue. You can freely prepare a cup of cocoa according to your own recipe. Especially those who love cocoa but are on a diet will feel secure to use it.
