Some Chocolate A Treat For The Heart

 Dark, Bitter Varieties More Likely to Contain Heart-Healthy Flavonol

Just in time for the holidays comes this sweet news: Chocolate may be good for your heart. Carl L. Keen, PhD, professor and chair, department of nutrition, University of California at Davis, says it is a substance called flavonol that has heart researchers paying attention. Turns out that the cacao bean is "among the most potent sources of flavonol." Marguerite M. Engler, PhD, RN, MS, professor and vice chair of the department of physiological nursing, University of California, San Francisco, found that a flavonol-rich candy bar improved blood flow.

Engler enrolled 21 healthy volunteers aged 20 to 40 in her study. She says that healthy adults who ate a flavonol-rich candy bar every day for two weeks improved their blood flow compared to adults who ate chocolate bars that were low in flavonol. Engler presented her findings during a special chocolate symposium at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2002. But Engler tells WebMD that "people need to remember that chocolate does contain calories. So you just can't add a candy bar to your diet without taking away something else." And while figuring out a way to rearrange the calories to make room for the chocolate bar, here's the rest of the story -- not all chocolate gets the heart-healthy label and it may be pretty difficult to separate the "healthy" chocolate from the not-so-healthy chocolate.

Researchers think that flavonol works in two ways to protect the heart: First, it makes the blood less "sticky" and less likely to form clots; second, it relaxes the blood vessels so that they allow more blood flow. But flavonols have a slightly bitter taste, something that doesn't appeal to a sweet-tooth nation like America. As a result, Keen says that "most manufacturing or processing methods -- especially in the U.S. -- remove most of the flavonol from chocolate." He says that it is possible to buy flavonol-rich chocolates and cocoa, but most manufacturers don't list flavonol content on labels.

 "Generally dark chocolates are more likely to be higher in flavonols and European chocolates usually have higher flavonol content than American-made chocolates." In Engler's study she used a dark-chocolate Dove bar, which is made by Mars, Inc., the company that funded the study. Gerald F. Fletcher, MD, professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, tells WebMD that flavonols are also found in red wine and grape juice. "There are a number of studies that suggest a benefit," he says but he adds that just as with wine "the benefit is usually seen with moderate amounts. It is easy go overboard with chocolate."

SOURCES: American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2002, Chicago, Nov. 17-20. • Carl L. Keen, PhD, professor and chair, department of nutrition, University of California at Davis • Gerald F. Fletcher, MD, professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville • Marguerite M. Engler, PhD, RN, MS, professor and vice chair of the department of physiological nursing, University of California, San

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