COCOA CONSUMPTION DOSE-DEPENDENTLY IMPROVES FLOW-MEDIATED DILATION AND ARTERIAL STIFFNESS IN HEALTHY SUBJECTS

To investigate the effects of different doses of cocoa on endothelial function and arterial stiffness. According to a randomized, double-blind, controlled, cross-over design, 20 healthy volunteers were assigned to receive either five treatments with daily intake of 10 g cocoa (0, 80, 200, 500 and 800 mg cocoa flavonoids/day) in five periods lasting 1 week each. Cocoa dose-dependently increased flow-mediated dilation (FMD) from 6.2% (control) to 7.3, 7.6, 8.1 and 8.2% after the different flavonoid doses, respectively (p < 0.0001). Compared with control, even 80 mg cocoa flavonoids/day increased FMD (p < 0.0001). The change in FMD after 800 mg/day was not only significant compared with control (p < 0.0001) but also with 80 mg/day (p = 0.0003) and 200 mg/day (p = 0.05). Compared with control, carotid–femoral artery pulse wave velocity (PWV) dose-dependently ( 0 mg vs. 200 mg: p = 0.0008; 0 mg vs. 500 mg: p < 0.0001; 0 mg vs. 800 mg: p < 0.0001) decreased. Our study showed for the first time that cocoa dose-d...