With around 659,000 people losing their lives every year to heart disease in the United States, this is the leading cause of death which is why it is important to know how to keep your heart healthy for a long time.
Those who have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes are at a higher risk since these are underlying issues.
Furthermore, certain unhealthy habits such as following a poor diet, drinking excessively, smoking and a lack of exercise can also lead to developing heart disease.
So what should those at risk do to lower the potential of developing heart disease?
Well, changing their eating habits and managing their underlying conditions is obviously necessary but you might also be excited to know that supplements can be just as useful.
In fact, one study has proven that cocoa extract supplements in particular, are amongst the best at lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease deaths.
The research was done by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and looked into whether or not cocoa extract supplements can decrease cardiovascular disease among senior adults.
It featured 12,666 women over the age of 65 and 8,776 men over the age of 60, none of whom had any major cardiovascular disease.
As part of the study, the participants were given cocoa extract supplements at random while the control group was given multivitamins as a placebo.
The research lasted from June of 2015 until December of 2020.
The results determined that cocoa extract supplements were able to reduce CVD death in senior adults by no less than 27 percent!
Aside from that, it also reduced the total cardiovascular events.
As you probably know, cocoa extract comes from the cacao bean and it can most commonly be found in chocolate.
The National Cancer Institute states that there are a number of benefits to cocoa extract, including cardiovascular protection, anti-inflammatory effects, neuroprotection, cognition enhancement, chemopreventive activities as well as vasodilation, the latter of which is the widening of blood vessels by relaxing the vessel’s muscular wall.
Furthermore, The National Cancer Institute also states that consuming cocoa extract can also cause the effective ingredients to create vasodilation which then improves blood flow and decreases blood pressure.
Other things improved through taking this supplement is insulin sensitivity, the production of pro-inflammatory molecules, and cognition.
