Eating cocoa can protect the body from the effects of fatty foods and stress

Researchers have found that combining high-fat foods and a certain type of cocoa can counteract some of the health problems.

This is reported by ScienceAlert, reports UNN.

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Food that makes you feel good during times of stress is often not good for you. But in a pleasant turn of events, scientists have found that a combination of high-fat foods and a certain type of cocoa can counteract some alarming health problems

It is known that episodes of severe stress, even short ones, slightly and temporarily disrupt the function of the body's arteries, and studies show that saturated fats can increase stress for the cardiovascular system, prolonging recovery.

The good news is that it can be an antidote, and oddly enough, it can be served as a dessert after a high-fat meal. In a blind study involving healthy adults, researchers at the University of Birmingham showed that consuming cocoa powder, which is high in antioxidants, can potentially ease the decline in vascular function associated with stress and fatty foods

The experiment involved 23 young and middle-aged adults who ate two buttery croissants with salted butter and cheddar cheese along with a glass of whole milk.

In addition, about half of the group drank cocoa, a drink high in flavanols, which are antioxidants found in plant-based foods such as berries, tea, apples, pears, and some nuts. The other half drank cocoa, a low-flavanol drink.

Participants completed a universal stressful event: a math test. During the second session, participants repeated the experiment by drinking a low-flavanol cocoa drink if they had previously been given a high-flavanol version, and vice versa. After a fatty meal and a stressful event, the researchers found an increase in the diameter of the participants ' brachial and carotid arteries. The brachial artery carries oxygen-rich blood to the body, while the carotid artery carries oxygen-rich blood to the brain

It is noted that those with cocoa with a high flavanol content were to some extent protected from these disorders. The way their brachial artery responded to changes in blood flow was improved compared to the low-flavanol group.

recall

Researchers have elucidated the mechanism of effects of prolonged stresson memory and anxiety. Experiments on mice have shown how stress disrupts the ability to distinguish between neutral and negative events.