Dark Chocolate May Relieve Walking Pain in PAD
Shortly after eating the equivalent of a small bar of dark, but not milk, chocolate, patients with moderate to severe peripheral arterial disease (PAD) could walk slightly farther and longer on a treadmill before having to stop due to pain, in a proof-of-concept study.
The research suggests that polyphenols in the dark chocolate may improve circulation in PAD patients, but further study is needed to confirm this, according to lead author Dr Lorenzo Loffredo (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy), senior author Dr Francesco Violi (Sapienza University of Rome), and colleagues. Two hours “after eating the dark [but not the milk] chocolate, PAD patients walked an average of 11% farther and 15% longer” than when they did not eat chocolate, Drs. Loffredo and Violi noted.
“PAD is characterized by reduced flow to the limbs, [and so far] there are no drugs that improve this blood flow, but dark chocolate could [potentially do this].” However, “this is only a pilot study,” they stressed. On the other hand, “if the results of our study are confirmed by future studies with chronic ingestion of polyphenols, it would open up novel therapeutic strategies in this setting using a natural substance,” they said.
The study is published July 2, 2014, in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
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