Polyphenols in Dark Chocolates Benefit Patients with Clogged Leg Arteries: Study

Eating dark chocolate helps patients with peripheral artery disease to walk better and farther, finds a study.

Past clinical trials and studies have confirmed the inordinate benefits of consuming dark chocolate that are loaded with anti-oxidants like 'polyphenols'. Researchers from the Sapienza University of Rome say polyphenols enable older people diagnosed with Peripheral artery disease (PAD) to walk for longer distances. PAD is a condition categorized by poor blood supply due to constricted arteries in head, arms, legs, head and stomach. It often causes severe pain, cramping and fatigue in the legs and hips of the patients.

Their study involved 14 men and six women aged between 60 and 78 suffering from PAD. The participants were either given 40 grams of white or dark chocolate in the mornings and two hours later they were asked to walk on treadmills. The dark chocolate bars had 85 percent cocoa content with maximum level of polyphenols and milk chocolate had less than 30 percent cocoa, reports the Telegraph.

The polyphenols in dark chocolate reduced oxidative stress and prompted blood flow in the peripheral arteries. It was observed that seniors who ate these chocolates walked 11 percent further and 15 percent longer than subjects eating white chocolates. Their total walking distance and duration increased by 12 meters and 39 feet and 17 seconds, respectively.

Although minute differences were recorded in the performance between both groups, the overall level of improvement was "of potential relevance for the quality of life of these patients," said Lorenzo Loffredo, study's co-author and assistant professor at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, in a news release.

In addition, the amount of nitric oxide in the participants' blood rose after eating dark chocolate. But, eating chocolates regularly adds more calories from sugar and fat to the body and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The experts believe their trial must be conducted on larger number of participants as the current study did not examine placebo effect. All the subjects were aware of the kind of chocolate they ate and the results may have been impacted by this.

"Other investigations have shown that polyphenols including those in dark chocolate may improve blood vessel function. But this study is extremely preliminary and I think everyone needs to be cautious when interpreting the findings," said Mark Creager, director of the Vascular Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital and  professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

More information is available online in the Journal of the American Heart Association.