Cocoa: climbs from flavanol to future vitamin

Two new studies found that epicatechin, a flavanol found in natural cocoa, may offer important protection against common diseases. One study, performed by Norman Hollenberg, a professor from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and published in the International Journal of Medical Sciences, suggests that epicatechin may have reduced the risk of cancer, diabetes, stroke and heart failure to less than 10 percent in the Kuna people in Panama.

who drink up to 40 cups of epicatechin-rich cocoa weekly. Hollenberg believes epicatechin should be classified as a vitamin. The second study was sponsored by Mars Inc. conducted in Germany and published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology. Male smokers known to be at higher risk for impaired blood vessel function, were given a cocoa drink made with 28-918mg of flavanols. Subjects receiving the highest amount of flavanols showed the greatest improvements; their blood vessel function was equal to that of people with no cardiovascular risks. Those who received 179mg had a 50 percent improvement. Optimal blood flow happened within two hours of consuming the drink, and returned to previous levels a week after cocoa consumption was stopped.

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