Abstract
The medicinal use of cocoa has a long history dating back almost five hundred years when Hernán Cortés’s first experienced the drink in Mesoamerica. Doctors in Europe recommended the beverage to patients in the 1700s, and later American physicians followed suit and prescribed the drink in early America―ca. 1800s. This article delineates the historic trajectory of cocoa consumption, the linkage between cocoa’s bioactive-mechanistic properties, paying special attention to nitric oxides role in vasodilation of the arteries, to the current indicators purporting the benefits of cocoa and cardiovascular health.
Highlights
The link between chocolate and health has been recorded at least as long as Cortés arrival in Mesoamerica [1]
The results suggest that polyphenolic substances derived from cocoa powder may contribute to a reduction in LDL cholesterol, and an elevation in HDL cholesterol [93], a positive change in markers for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk
Epidemiologic and experimental studies continually suggest a positive relationship between polyphenols consumption natural in cocoa and heart health [105,106]
Summary
The link between chocolate and health has been recorded at least as long as Cortés arrival in Mesoamerica [1]. Codices document that chocolate was drank to maintain health in the 1500s. This article will focus on the bioactive mechanistic linkages between cocoa and heart health with special attention given to nitric oxide and its associated history with the Nobel Prize. Recently, the prize was linked again with chocolate; this time, the author correlated statistics measuring countries’ consumption levels of chocolate and Nobel Laureate winners to argue that chocolate consumption provided a cognitive advantage [2]. Researchers continue to investigate the role cocoa plays in heart health, and evidence suggests that there are many positive attributes cocoa provides to the consumer
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