The Mysterious Light of Dark Chocolate

• Main Authors: Tunay Şentürk, Şeyda Günay
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KARE Publishing 2015-03-01
• Series: Türk Kardiyoloji Derneği Arşivi
• Subjects: cacao; chocolate; cardiovascular diseases; flavanones; food/adverse effects; heart diseases/epidemiology; hypertension/ diet therapy
• Online Access: https://jag.journalagent.com/z4/download_fulltext.asp?pdir=tkd&un=TKDA-70360

A healthy diet plays a key role in the prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases. Dark chocolate in particular has been shown to improve endothelial functions and lipid profile and to have cardiovascular protective effects via an inhibitory action on platelet functions. Recently, several studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of chocolate, primarily on hypertension and other conditions such as coronary artery disease and hyperlipidemia. The present review provides a summary of the ingredients, bioavailability and cardiovascular protective effects of chocolate / cocoa and the published effects of chocolate on a number of cardiovascular diseases.