Cocoa Consumption May Boost Levels of HDL, a "Good" Cholesterol

15/03/07 Drinking cocoa each day may boost levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol, Japanese researchers report.

Researchers, who included Kazuo Kondo, MD, PhD, of Tokyo's Ochanomizu University, studied 25 healthy Japanese men with normal or mildly high cholesterol levels.

None of the men were taking any prescription drugs, antioxidants, or vitamin supplements. They weren't overweight, judging by their average BMI (body mass index), and they didn't drink a lot of alcohol.

First, the researchers checked participants' blood and urine samples and divided them into two groups.

One group was assigned to drink cocoa containing sugar each day for 12 weeks.

For comparison, the men in the other group were told to drink a sugary beverage containing no cocoa for 12 weeks.

But it was no ordinary cocoa the first group drank. The researchers bought the cacao beans themselves and roasted, cracked, and ground them in their lab. They also analyzed the cocoa powder to make sure it hadn't lost major amounts of antioxidants during processing.

At the end of the 12-week experiment, participants provided more blood and urine samples.

HDL Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol

The men in the cocoa group showed a 24% rise in their HDL, or "good," cholesterol levels. HDL levels also rose for the comparison group, but to a lesser extent (5% increase in HDL).

The researchers also tested the men's LDL ("bad") cholesterol.

Those tests included blasting samples of the men's LDL cholesterol with free radicals to trigger a process called oxidation. Oxidized LDL cholesterol may be particularly hazardous because oxidation may help LDL cholesterol build up in the arteries, the researchers explain.

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