Cocoa compound increases brain's blood flow.Cocoa Cocoa, city, United States Cocoa, city (1990 pop. 17,722), Brevard co., E Fla., on the Indian River (a lagoon), a segment of the Intracoastal Waterway; inc. 1895. It is a tourist and arts center in a region where citrus fruits are grown. An 8-mi (12. that retains compounds usually removed to soften the product's favor can significantly improve blood flow to the brain, say researchers. The finding could eventually lead to treatments for a variety of ills, including strokes and dementia. Since the early 1990s, Norman Hollenberg of Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. It is a prestigious American medical school located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. in Boston and his colleagues have been studying the Kuna ku·na n. pl. kuna See Table at currency. [Serbo-Croatian, marten, kuna (from the earlier use of marten skins for payment).] , native people that live on islands off the Caribbean coast Caribbean Coast (Traditional Chinese: 映灣園) is a multiphase residential and commercial development in Tung Chung as part of the station development of Tung Chung MTR Station. of Panama. Unlike typical Americans, the Kuna people have a low incidence of high blood pressure and their blood pressure doesn't usually rise with age. These factors lower their risk of diseases associated with high blood pressure, such as heart attacks, diabetes, strokes, and some types of dementia. Hollenberg's team noticed that Kuna who moved away from the islands onto the Panamanian mainland lost this protection from high blood pressure. When the researchers searched for factors that differed between the island and mainland populations, they found that island Kuna drink several cups of cocoa during the day but that mainlanders typically don't. Unlike the cocoa sold in most U.S. stores, Kuna cocoa is only minimally processed, leaving in large quantities of compounds called flavonoids flavonoids, n.pl common plant pigment compounds that act as antioxidants, enhance the effects of vitamin C, and strengthen connective tissue around capillaries. . Since these compounds have a bitter taste, they're often removed from mass-produced cocoa. In a recent study in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , Hollenberg and his colleagues gave cups of flavonoid-rich cocoa to a group of people age 50 or older. Other people received cocoa without flavonoids. Tests showed that people who drank the flavonoid-rich beverage had about a 10 to 15 percent increase in blood flow to the brain. People who drank cocoa without flavonoids had no significant bloodflow increase. Hollenberg notes that some U.S. chocolate manufacturers This is a list of companies who produce chocolate, not chocolates. That is, they process cocoa beans into a product versus melting chocolate for use as coating or molding into truffles, pralines, or other chocolate confectionaries. are starting to make bars and beverages that contain large quantities of cocoa flavonoids, which could provide some health benefits to consumers. In the future, he adds, researchers may develop highly potent pill versions of cocoa flavonoids to fight high blood pressure and associated diseases. |
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