Re: Cocovia: Chocolate bar shown to lower cholesterol

[Guest guest]

Great tasting too!!

On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 2:09 PM, ne Holden <

fivestar@...> wrote:

> Colleagues, the following is FYI and does not necessarily reflect my own

> opinion. I have no further knowledge of the topic. If you do not wish to

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> Public release date: 21-Apr-2008

> http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-04/uoia-cbs042108.php

>

> Contact: Phyllis Picklesimer

> p-pickle@...

>

> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

>

> Chocolate bar shown to lower cholesterol

>

> The results of a University of Illinois study have demonstrated an

> effective way to lower cholesterol levels – by eating chocolate bars.

>

> " Eating two CocoaVia dark chocolate bars a day not only lowered

> cholesterol, it had the unexpected effect of also lowering systolic

> blood pressure, " said Erdman, a U. of I. professor of food science

> and human nutrition.

>

> The study, funded in part by Mars Inc., the company that makes the bars,

> was published in this month's Journal of Nutrition.

>

> Erdman attributes the drop in cholesterol numbers (total cholesterol by

> 2 percent and LDL or " bad " cholesterol by 5.3 percent) to the plant

> sterols that have been added to the bar and the drop in blood pressure

> to the flavanols found in dark chocolate.

>

> Erdman says that some people will assume the study is flawed because of

> Mars' funding role.

>

> " I know that it was a double-blinded trial that wasn't skewed toward a

> particular result, " said Erdman, who chairs the Mars Scientific Advisory

> Council. " Moreover, the paper was peer-reviewed and published in the

> Journal of Nutrition, which ranks in the top 10 percent of all the

> biological science journals. " Mars has spent millions of dollars

> studying the biological impact of the flavanols found in cocoa beans and

> learning how to retain their benefits during the refining process,

> Erdman said.

>

> Forty-nine persons with slightly elevated cholesterol and normal blood

> pressure were recruited for the study. Those chosen for the

> double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study began the American

> Heart Association's " Eating Plan for Healthy Americans " (formerly the

> Step 1 diet) two weeks before the study started; then they were divided

> into two matched groups. Two types of CocoaVia bars were then

> introduced, one with plant sterols and one without.

>

> While remaining on the AHA diet, participants ate one CocoaVia

> formulation twice daily for four weeks, then switched to the other bar

> for an additional four weeks. Blood cholesterol levels, blood pressure,

> body weight, and other cardiovascular measures were tracked throughout

> the eight-week study.

>

> " After the participants started the AHA diet, a lot of them began to

> lose weight, so we had to keep fussing at them to eat more. We didn't

> want a weight change because that also lowers cholesterol, " said Ellen

> , a U. of I. professor of kinesiology and community health and

> co-author of the study.

>

> " After starting the CocoaVia bars, we saw a marked differential effect

> on blood cholesterol, with the sterol-containing products doing better

> than those without sterols, " she said.

>

> A CocoaVia bar contains 100 calories.

> ###

>

> Other authors of the study are LeaAnn Carson of the U. of I. and

> Kwik-Uribe, research manager of Mars. Dietitian Robin

> conducted the study under Erdman's supervision. The work also was

> supported by a grant from the U. of I.

> --

> ne Holden, MS, RD

> " Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

> " Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

> " Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

> http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/

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