The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 1.28 billion adults between 30 and 79 years old have high blood pressure levels, a problem that significantly increases the chances of premature death, especially since an estimated 46% of those affected are not diagnosed and, therefore, do not follow any treatment or have modified their lifestyle to reduce the risks and complications associated with hypertension.
Healthy lifestyle habits can help prevent or control hypertension; for example, regular physical exercise and taking care of the type of diet (include certain foods and limit or avoid others). Now, a team of cardiologists from Shaoxing People’s Hospital, in collaboration with a colleague from Zhuji People’s Hospital, both in China, has found an association between dark chocolate consumption and reduced risk of essential hypertension.
The researchers have published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports. The goal of their study was to find out if it was possible that eating dark chocolate could reduce essential hypertension, which has been linked to a range of diseases, from strokes to heart attacks. In their article, they describe how they used Mendelian randomization to find out potential associations between dark chocolate consumption and hypertension.
Components of dark chocolate benefit heart health
The term essential hypertension is used when its origin is unknown. In recent years, reports have been released indicating that consuming dark chocolate provides certain health benefits due to its flavanol content. Among the benefits found include the reduction of inflammation and other factors that intervene in coronary heart disease.
The authors of the new study investigated the possibility that dark chocolate consumption could reduce essential hypertension, which has been implicated in a range of diseases from stroke to heart attack. To carry out the study, they used a technique called Mendelian randomization, which allows studying differences in genetic profiles in a way that shows that a certain intervention was responsible for a specific effect; This method has been promoted due to its ability to reduce the risk of reverse causality.
Using the method on data obtained from the MRC’s Integrative Epidemiology Unit, which included genetic profiles of 64,945 people of European descent, the team looked for associations between the health benefits of dark chocolate consumption and ailments such as heart failure, blood clots, stroke, coronary heart disease, and essential hypertension.
In analyzing their data, the researchers found what they describe as a significant association between regular dark chocolate consumption and reduced risk of essential hypertension, and some association between dark chocolate consumption and a decreased risk of venous thromboembolism.
Although they found no associations between dark chocolate consumption and any of the other conditions studied, the researchers believe that their findings are strong enough to warrant further studies on dark chocolate and its components to determine whether this food or any of its ingredients could be useful for the treatment of essential hypertension.
