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To the Editor: Chocolate may have beneficial cardiovascular effects, possibly due to cocoa polyphenols.¹ Experiments in animals suggest that plant polyphenols decrease blood pressure (BP)²; however, evidence from human clinical trials is lacking. We examined whether dark chocolate (polyphenol-rich chocolate [PRC]) may lower BP in individuals with mild isolated hypertension.

Methods

We conducted a randomized crossover trial in 13 otherwise healthy individuals (6 men and 7 women, aged 55-64 years, with body mass index of 21.9-26.2 [calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters]) with recently diagnosed and untreated stage 1 mild isolated systolic hypertension (mean [SD] systolic BP, 153.2 [3.9] mm Hg; mean [SD] diastolic BP, 83.8 [3.5] mm Hg). After a cocoa-free run-in phase of 7 days, participants were randomly assigned to receive 14 consecutive daily doses of either 100-g dark PRC bars containing 500 mg of polyphenols and 480 kcal of energy . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD
Department of Pharmacology

Reinhard Berkels, PhD; Renate Roesen, PhD; Wolfgang Klaus, MD, PhD
Medical College of the University of Cologne
Cologne, Germany

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