Do you crave fatty foods during stress? While this is natural, adding hot cocoa or green tea to your meals might help. A recent study found that these flavonoid-rich drinks can counteract the negative effects of stress, even after eating a fatty meal.
The latest study published in the journal Food and Function investigated how flavanols, when consumed with fat, can help reduce the negative effects of fat on stress-related problems in endothelial function.
“We know that when people are stressed, they tend to gravitate towards high-fat foods. We have previously shown that fatty food can impair the body’s vascular recovery from stress. In this study, we wanted to see if adding a high-flavanol food to the fatty meal would alleviate the negative impact of stress in the body” said leading author Dr. Catarina Rendeiro in a news release.
The study looked at 23 young, healthy males and females who were given a breakfast of two butter croissants with cheese and milk, followed by either a high-flavanol cocoa drink or a low-flavanol cocoa drink.
After resting, the participants took a mental math test, which increased in difficulty over eight minutes, with incorrect answers flagged. The test is designed to create stress in participants like a scenario that would cause stress in their daily lives.
The researchers measured the participants’ blood flow in the forearm, heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels in the prefrontal cortex ( anterior frontal lobe of the brain) during the test and while at rest. Using Brachial Flow-mediated Dilatation (FMD) tests, the researchers also assessed the blood vessel functions of the participants that would predict cardiovascular disease risk.
The results showed that those participants who consumed low-flavanol drinks had reduced vascular function, which lasted around 90 minutes even after the stressful event.
Meanwhile, the results of FMD tests were significantly higher in those who had high-flavanol cocoa compared to low-flavanol…
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