Journal
NUTRIENTS
Volume 12, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/nu12061758
Keywords
arterial pressure; vascular stiffness; risk factors; chocolate; postmenopause
Categories
Funding
- Gerencia Regional de Salud de Castilla y Leon [GRS 1583/B/17]
- Institute of Health Carlos III of the Ministry of Science and Technology (Spain) through the Network for Prevention and Health Promotion in Primary Care [RD16/0007]
- European Union's ERDF
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This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the intake of 10 g of cocoa-rich chocolate on blood pressure, other cardiovascular risk factors, and vascular structure and function in postmenopausal women. A total of 140 postmenopausal women participated in this randomized and controlled parallel clinical trial. For six months, the intervention group (IG;n= 73) consumed daily 10 g of chocolate (99% cocoa) added to their usual food intake, whereas the control group (CG;n= 67) did not receive any intervention. Blood pressure, pulse pressure (PP), cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), ankle-brachial index (ABI), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), augmentation index, and laboratory variables were measured at baseline and six months. ANCOVA analyses adjusted for baseline values revealed no significant differences for systolic blood pressure (-1.45 mm Hg; 95% confidence interval (CI): -4.79, 1.88;p= 0.391) or baPWV (0.18 m/s; 95% CI: -0.14, 0.50;p= 0.263) between groups. A decrease in PP was observed in the IG compared to the CG (-2.05 mm Hg; 95% CI: -4.08, -0.02;p= 0.048). The rest of the vascular structure and function parameters and other measured variables remained unchanged. The daily intake of 10 g of cocoa-rich chocolate seems to provide little improvement to cardiovascular health, but neither does it cause any adverse effects on the parameters evaluated in postmenopausal women in the long term.
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