Nutritional aspects of cocoa

摘要

Many of the nutritionally beneficial components revolve around the presence of fla-vanols. These are a part of the more general group of flavonoids — polyphe-nols that have antioxidant activity when consumed. In cocoa the most important flavanols are the catechin group, particularly epicatechin. Davison et al (1) studied the effects of cocoa flavanols on systolic (higher) and diastolic (lower) blood pressure in individuals with mild hypertension. Volunteers were given flavanol-enriched drinks with flavanol levels ranging from the equivalent of 33mg/ day up to 1052mg/day. Only the very high level had any effect on blood pressure and reduced systolic blood pressure by 5.3mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 3mmHg.