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Mice Study Suggests Veggies May Reduce Atherosclerosis Risk
The BBC reports that a study on mice suggests that eating veggies may reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, or artery hardening. The scientists studies two groups of mice: one group received vegetables while the other group did not. The group of mice eating the veggies had 38% smaller artery plaques.
Half the mice were fed a vegetable-free diet and half the mice were fed a diet which included broccoli, green beans, corn, peas and carrots.
After 16 weeks, researchers measured cholesterol content in the blood vessels and estimated that plaques in the arteries of the mice were 38% smaller.
Although there was also a reduction in total cholesterol and body weight in mice fed the vegetable-rich diet, analysis showed that this could not explain the reduction in atherosclerosis.
Lead researcher Dr Michael Adams said: "While everyone knows that eating more vegetables is supposed to be good for you, no-one had shown before that it can actually inhibit the development of atherosclerosis."
Atherosclerosis increases the likelihood of a stroke. Any reduction in the risk of having a stroke is a good thing. This appears to be just one more benefit of eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
Posted on June 20, 2006
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Dark Chocolate May Help Lower Blood Pressure
Reuters reports that an American Heart Association study has found that dark chocolate may help the heart. It is nice to have a study that indicates something that tastes good may also have health benefits. They study, which Reuters said has been backed up by other research on dark chocolate, found that dark chocolate contains flavonoids which are thought to help blood vessels work more smoothly.
"Previous studies suggest flavonoid-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables, tea, red wine and chocolate, might offer cardiovascular benefits, but this is one of the first clinical trials to look specifically at dark chocolate's effect on lowering blood pressure among people with hypertension," said Jeffrey Blumberg of Tufts University in Boston, who led the study.
"This study is not about eating more chocolate," Blumberg added. "It suggests that cocoa flavonoids appear to have benefits on vascular function and glucose sensitivity."
Unfortunately, the health benefits are found primarily in the dark chocolate. Milk chocolate, which is the kind of chocolate found in most candy and other sweets, has much less of the flavonoids and white chocolate contains no flavonoids.
"White chocolate, which has no flavonoids, was the perfect control food because it contains all the other ingredients and calories found in dark chocolate," Blumberg said.
"It's important to note that the dark chocolate we used had a high level of flavonoids, giving it a slightly bittersweet taste. Most Americans eat milk chocolate, which has a low amount of these compounds."
Writing in the journal Hypertension, Blumberg's team said when the volunteers ate the special dark chocolate, they had a 12 mm Hg decrease in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and a 9 mm Hg decrease in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) on average.
Blood pressure did not change when the volunteers ate white chocolate.
"This is not only a statistically significant effect, but it's also a clinically meaningful decline," Blumberg said. "This is the kind of reduction in blood pressure often found with other healthful dietary interventions."
Posted on July 22, 2005
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