Drinking a cup of cocoa when you’re feeling stressed can protect your heart health.Most of us think of salads as part of a healthy diet and eat moderate amounts of sweets because they are not good for the body.
A recent study has found that having a delicious drink helps protect your heart.
* Drinking cocoa protects the heart.
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Stress leads to cardiovascular problems, such as stroke, heart disease, or blood clots. There are ways to reduce these harmful effects.
The University of Birmingham (UK) has just published research showing that drinking cocoa helps protect your heart when you are stressed. Accordingly, blood vessels work better if you drink cocoa thanks to the high flavanol content in this food.
“We found that ingestion of flavanol-rich cocoa is an effective strategy to limit the transient decline in stress-induced endothelial function. Blood flow is also better regulated,” said Dr. Catarina Rendeiro, University of Birmingham.
* Foods containing flavanols.
This compound is common in many vegetables and fruits. You have some other options like apple, black currant, raspberry, cherry, pear, bean, green tea.
* The benefits of flavanols.
Flavanol is not only good for your heart health, but has many other effects as well. A study published in the journal Nutrition Reviews found that flavanols can help lower high blood pressure.
A diet high in flavanols has the potential to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, preventing cancer cells from multiplying.
* Stress damages the mind and body.
According to research in the journal Nutrients, stress is common in today’s society and is linked to both psychological and physical health. Mental stress causes an immediate increase in heart rate and blood pressure in healthy adults. Arterial function is also affected even when you’re relieved of stress.
Single episodes of stress have been shown to increase the risk of acute cardiovascular events.