Cocoa Lowers Blood Pressure, Mortality

Cocoa Lowers Blood Pressure, Mortality

WAGENINGEN, NetherlandsIntake of cocoa is inversely associatedwith blood pressure and may inhibit cardiovascular and all-cause mortality,according to data from The Zutphen Elderly Study (Arch Intern Med, 166,4:411-7, 2006) (http://archinte.ama-assn.org/).

At baseline and after five years, researchers measured blood pressure in 470elderly men free of chronic diseases at enrollment. Causes of death were trackedduring 15 years of follow-up. Habitual food consumption, including cocoa intake,was assessed by the cross-check dietary history method every five years (threeassessments total). Median cocoa intake among those who consumed cocoa was 2.11g/d. Mean systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure in the highesttertile of cocoa intake were 3.7 mm Hg and 2.1 mm Hg lower, respectively, thanblood pressure in the lowest tertile of cocoa intake. During follow-up, 314 mendied; 152 of these fatalities were from cardiovascular diseases. Compared withthe lowest tertile of cocoa intake, the adjusted relative risk for men in thehighest tertile was 0.50 for cardiovascular mortality and 0.53 for allcausemortality.

The researchers concluded cocoa intake is inversely associated with bloodpressure and 15-year cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in a cohort ofelderly men.