Now, I am not condoning either one of these as healthy, but if you must indulge in a cigarette, you might find that following it up with a piece of chocolate might help curb the damage inflicted on your blood vessels.
While the best way to keep your heart healthy is to avoid smoking altogether — in addition to following a well- balanced diet that is filled with loads of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, and maintaining a solid exercise program — I understand that it can be tricky to cut out this habit. That being said, a new study might bring your heart some much needed support.
Flavonols are found in chocolate, as well as in fruits and vegetables. They are said to improve nitric-oxide levels in a smoker’s blood, which can help temporarily reverse some of the damage, according to a new study that was conducted by researchers in Germany.
The blood vessels of smokers have a difficult time dealing with changes in the flow of blood, so if there were any benefits from eating flavonols on the bloodstream, it would definitely show up in a smoker.
“While the long-term benefits of such improvements outcome of this study is the demonstration that flavonol- rich cocoa can significantly improve an important marker of cardiovascular health in a population with an established cardiovascular risk factor. This raises the possibility that a potential new agent for the prevention and/or treatment of cardiovascular disease may emerge from additional research,” said Malte Kelm, MD, one of the researchers in the study.
Twelve smokers with no history of health problems were given either cocoa rich in flavonols or low in flavonols. Those drinking cocoa high in flavonols were seen to have a large increase in circulating nitric oxide.
In order to determine whether or not this was based on the drink, the researchers gave the participants a drug that interferes with the signaling of nitric oxide. After ingestion of this drug, the improvements seen from the drink were gone.
It must be noted that the drink administered to participants was inordinately high in flavonols, which is not likely to be found in supermarket cocoa.
While further research still needs to be conducted, this new study provides positive information for future testing. However, the effects from the overconsumption of flavonols are not known and need to be studied as well.
Remember that nothing will ever permanently reverse the effects of smoking except for quitting.
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Tags: exercise, Heart
