Washing cheeseburgers and chips down with a hot chocolate could make the meal better for your heart and stop you feeling frazzled, scientists said today.
The powerful compounds lurking in chocolate — particularly dark varieties — have now been found to boost cardiovascular health even after eating high-fat food.
Flavanols, as they are called, are also abundant in apples, berries and green tea.
British researchers, who tracked two dozen young adults, discovered the benefits came from consuming 695mg of flavanols in cocoa powder — roughly equivalent to six squares of high quality dark chocolate.
It also prevented a temporary decline in blood vessel function, compared to low-flavanol drink options.
Experts said people who were likely to reach for a fat-rich treat when stressed, or because its convenient, ‘could make a real difference’ to their health by adding a cup of low-sugar cocoa or green tea.
Dr Catarina Rendeiro, an assistant professor in nutritional sciences at the University of Birmingham, and study lead author said the team were particularly interested to see if the festive treat could ward off stress-related damage to the heart.
‘We know that when people are stressed, they tend to gravitate towards high-fat foods,’ she said. ‘We have previously shown that fatty food can impair the body’s vascular recovery from stress.
The powerful compounds lurking in chocolate — particularly dark varieties — have now been found to boost cardiovascular health even after eating high-fat food
It also prevented a temporary decline in blood vessel function, compared to low-flavanol drink options
‘In this study, we wanted to see if adding a high-flavanol food to the fatty meal would alleviate the negative impact of stress in the body.’
Meanwhile, Professor Jet Veldhuijzen van Zanten, an expert in biological psychology at the University of Birmingham study co-author, added: ‘Modern life is stressful and the impact of stress on our health and the economy has been well documented.
‘So any changes we can make to protect ourselves from some of the symptoms of stress is positive.
‘For those who tend to reach for a treat when stressed or depend on convenient food because they work high-pressure jobs or are time-poor, incorporating some of these small changes could make a real difference.’
The research, published in the journal Food & Function, involved 23 adults with a healthy BMI and aged 22 on average.
Most were exceeding the daily fat and sugar diet recommendations, while not a single volunteer met the suggested daily fibre intake.
But they did consume roughly 240mg of flavonoids per day — the average adult intake.
Participants were all given two butter croissants with 10g of salted butter, one and a half slices of cheddar cheese and 250ml of whole milk as breakfast.
While some warning signs are easy to spot — such as severe chest pain — others are more vague and hard to pinpoint
Half were then offered a low-flavanol cocoa drink containing around 5.6mg of flavanols, with the others given a high-flavanol cocoa drink with 695mg.
After an 8-minute rest period, all volunteers were asked to complete an 8-minute mental maths test that sped up if a they got a question incorrect.
Over the 16 minutes, scientists measured blood flow in the forearm of all participants, heart activity and oxygen levels in the prefrontal cortex — a brain region that plays a key role in decision-making, planning, and attention.
They found the task ‘significantly’ increased heart rate and blood pressure — similar to the stress that may be encountered in daily life.
The scientists also discovered those who were given the low-flavanol drink had reduced blood vessel function lasting up to 90 minutes.
By comparison, this stood at just half an hour among the high-flavanol cocoa consumers.
Dr Rendeiro added: ‘This research shows that drinking or eating a food high in flavanols can be used as a strategy to mitigate some of the impact of poorer food choices on the vascular system.
‘This can help us make more informed decisions about what we eat and drink during stressful periods.’
NHS data shows a rise in the number of younger adults suffering from heart attacks over the past decade. The biggest increase (95 per cent) was recorded in the 25-29 year-old demographic, though as numbers of patients are low even small spikes can look dramatic
Experts advised looking for ‘minimally processed’ cocoa powder in the supermarkets if you’re fixing yourself a festive drink this festive season.
This means products with only a few ingredients — cocoa being the main one — and low amounts of sugar.
If hot cocoa isn’t your beverage of choice, there are other ways you can get a higher dose of flavanols, such as green tea, black tea and berries.
It comes as alarming data earlier this year revealed that premature deaths from cardiovascular problems, such as heart attacks and strokes, had hit their highest level in more than a decade.
MailOnline has previously highlighted how the number of young people, under 40, in England being treated for heart attacks by the NHS is on the rise.
Cases of heart attacks, heart failure and strokes among the under-75s has tumbled since the 1960s thanks to plummeting smoking rates, advanced surgical techniques and breakthroughs such as stents and statins.
But now, rising obesity rates, and its catalogue of associated health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes, are thought to be one of the major contributing factors.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
