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We’re consistently instructed to “eat healthy”—however what does that really imply? Even docs generally battle to supply clear, sensible recommendation on which particular meals assist well being, why they work and what actual advantages folks can anticipate.
A rising physique of analysis is beginning to supply some solutions. Together with colleagues, I’ve researched whether or not a bunch of plant compounds known as flavan-3-ols might assist decrease blood stress and enhance blood vessel perform. The outcomes counsel these on a regular basis compounds could have actual potential for safeguarding coronary heart well being.
Flavan-3-ols—generally known as flavanols or catechins—are pure plant compounds that belong to the flavonoid household. They’re a part of what offers crops their coloration and helps shield them from daylight and pests.
For us, they present up in a few of our most acquainted meals: cocoa, inexperienced and black tea, grapes, apples and even some berries. That barely tart or bitter observe you style in darkish chocolate or sturdy tea? That is flavan-3-ols at work.
Scientists have lengthy been serious about their well being results. In 2022, the Cosmos trial (Cocoa Complement and Multivitamin Outcomes Examine), which adopted over 21,000 folks, discovered that cocoa flavanols, however not multivitamin dietary supplements, diminished deaths from heart problems by 27%. Our research got down to dig even deeper, focusing particularly on their results on blood stress and endothelial perform (how properly blood vessels dilate and reply to blood movement).
We analyzed knowledge from 145 randomized managed trials involving greater than 5,200 individuals. These research examined a variety of flavan-3-ol-rich meals and dietary supplements, together with cocoa, tea, grapes, apples and remoted compounds like epicatechin, and measured their results on two key cardiovascular markers: blood stress and flow-mediated dilation (FMD): a measure of how properly the internal lining of blood vessels features.
The research ranged from short-term (a single dose) to longer-term interventions lasting weeks or months. On common, individuals consumed about 586 mg of flavan-3-ols day by day; roughly the quantity present in two to a few cups of tea, one to 2 servings of darkish chocolate, two tablespoons of cocoa powder, or a few apples.
Common consumption of flavan-3-ols led to a median drop in workplace blood stress of two.8 mmHg systolic (the highest quantity) and a couple of.0 mmHg diastolic (the underside quantity).
However for individuals who began with elevated blood stress or identified hypertension, the advantages have been even larger with reductions of as much as 6–7 mmHg systolic and 4 mmHg diastolic. That is similar to the consequences of some prescription blood stress drugs and will considerably decrease the chance of coronary heart assaults and strokes.
We additionally discovered that flavan-3-ols improved endothelial perform, with a median 1.7% improve in FMD after sustained consumption. This profit appeared even in individuals whose blood stress was already regular, suggesting these compounds could assist shield blood vessels via a number of pathways.
Unwanted side effects have been unusual and sometimes delicate, often restricted to minor digestive points, suggesting that including flavan-3-ol-rich meals to your eating regimen is mostly protected.
Supporting cardiovascular well being
Whereas the advantages have been most pronounced in these with hypertension, even folks with regular readings noticed enhancements in vascular perform. This implies flavan-3-ols could assist forestall cardiovascular issues earlier than they start.
Hypertension is without doubt one of the main drivers of coronary heart illness worldwide, even at ranges that do not qualify as full-blown hypertension (140/90 mmHg or greater). Current tips from the European Society of Cardiology now acknowledge that even “elevated” blood stress (120–139 systolic and 70–89 diastolic) carries elevated threat.
Way of life modifications, significantly eating regimen and train, are advisable by docs as first-line methods. However sufferers and even well being care suppliers usually lack clear, particular steering on which meals really make a distinction. Our findings assist fill this hole by displaying that boosting flavan-3-ol consumption via on a regular basis meals could supply a easy, evidence-based strategy to assist cardiovascular well being.
What about dietary supplements?
Some research examined dietary supplements or remoted flavan-3-ol compounds, however these usually confirmed smaller results than entire meals like tea or cocoa. This can be as a result of different helpful compounds in entire meals work collectively, enhancing absorption and effectiveness.
At current, it seems each safer and more practical to deal with getting flavan-3-ols from meals moderately than high-dose dietary supplements, particularly for folks taking drugs, since interactions aren’t absolutely understood.
The research we reviewed counsel that 500–600 mg of flavan-3-ols day by day could also be sufficient to see advantages. You would attain this by combining two to a few cups of inexperienced or black tea, one to 2 servings (about 56g) of darkish chocolate or two to a few tablespoons of cocoa powder, two to a few apples, plus different flavan-3-ol-rich fruits like grapes, pears and berries
Small day by day swaps, then, like buying and selling a sugary snack for an apple and a bit of darkish chocolate or including an additional cup of tea, might step by step enhance your coronary heart well being over time. As a result of flavan-3-ol content material can fluctuate between meals, monitoring your blood stress at house could enable you see if it is making a distinction for you.
Extra analysis is required, significantly in folks with diabetes, the place the outcomes have been much less constant. We additionally want to raised perceive how flavan-3-ols work together with drugs and whether or not even larger advantages may be achieved when mixed with different wholesome habits.
However the proof is now sturdy sufficient to suggest flavan-3-ol-rich meals as a part of a heart-healthy eating regimen. As clinicians search sensible, reasonably priced life-style methods for sufferers, these findings carry us nearer to the concept of utilizing meals as drugs.
After all, flavan-3-ols aren’t a magic repair. They will not substitute medicine for everybody. However mixed with different wholesome habits, they could supply a significant—and scrumptious—increase to cardiovascular well being. And in contrast to many well being fads, this is not about unique superfoods or costly powders. It is about meals many people already get pleasure from, used a bit of extra deliberately.
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