Stressful situations surround us on a daily basis, from financial problems, overwork, complicated meetings, emotional problems, concerns for friends or family, illnesses, etc.
A new study determines that drinking cocoa helps us deal with momentary stressful situations, and that’s thanks to flavonoids . Pure cocoa is rich in this compound, as are apples, black grapes, blackberries, cherries, raspberries, pears, some legumes, and green tea.
What the research found is that people who drank flavonoid-rich cocoa blood vessels function better in stressful processes. Mental stress can affect cardiovascular health, leading to thrombosis, strokes, and heart problems.
The good thing about cocoa, according to the University of Birmingham study , is that it appears to have a beneficial effect on the membrane (endothelium) that lines the heart and blood vessels throughout the body.
If that membrane or endothelium performs properly, heart failure, stroke, and even diabetes, kidney failure, tumor growth, among other serious problems, are considerably reduced.
The functioning of the endothelium also affects serious viral infectious diseases, such as the coronavirus that has hit society so severely today.
Physical and mental stress has a very negative effect on the blood vessels and leads to health problems that we have already mentioned. The researchers noticed that drinking cocoa rich in flavonoids (cocoa the purer the better) considerably reduced the temporary deficiency of the endothelium, improving flow in episodes of stress.
This conclusion was reached after investigating healthy people who were asked to drink a high-flavonoid cocoa drink 90 minutes before performing an 8-minute mentally stressful task.
The researchers measured forearm blood flow and cardiovascular activity, both at rest and during stressful activity. The measurement was repeated 90 minutes after finishing the task that stressed them, and they found that those who drank the pure cocoa drink high in flavonoids had the least stress-affected blood vessels .
The study determines that we can protect our blood vessels and our heart in a conscious and daily way through a good balanced diet with products rich in flavonoids and aerobic exercise several times a week.
