The Digester

In a randomized double-blind crossover study of 20 healthy older adults, a single 695 mg dose of cocoa flavanols taken before two hours of sitting preserved brachial and femoral artery endothelial function, while sitting still raised blood pressure and impaired leg microvascular oxygen handling with no benefit from flavanols.

High-flavanol cocoa (695 mg) prevented the 0.7% decline in brachial and superficial femoral artery flow-mediated dilation seen after 2 hours of uninterrupted sitting with low flavanol (5.6 mg).
Sitting raised systolic blood pressure by about 6.1 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by about 2.6 mm Hg, and flavanol intake did not attenuate these increases.
Leg muscle microvascular function showed reduced reperfusion magnitude and slower oxygen desaturation after sitting, and flavanols had no detectable effect on these microvascular impairments.
The trial was randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject crossover and enrolled 20 apparently healthy older adults with a mean age of 72.4 years.
The two cocoa beverages were matched for macro- and micronutrients and methylxanthines so differences are attributable to flavanol content.
The data indicate acute flavanol-rich cocoa preserves conduit artery endothelial function during short bouts of prolonged sitting but does not prevent sitting-induced blood pressure or microvascular changes.

Cocoa flavanols prevent sitting-related endothelial decline in older adults

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