Written by Robby Berman — Fact checked by Kelsey Costa, MS, RDN
Drinking cocoa may help us recover more quickly from the physiological effects of stress, despite the high-fat comfort foods we may turn to in such times. This is according to a new study from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
The authors of the study — which appears in Food & Function — have previously shown that consuming fatty foods may negatively affect vascular function reduce cortical oxygenation during stressful situations, and inhibit the body’s subsequent recovery.
Cocoa contains a flavanol, epicatechin, that relaxes blood vessels’ endothelial cell layer, improving their function and addressing elevated blood pressure, which is a common stress reaction.
For the current study, the researchers recruited 23 young, healthy men and women. Each partook of a high-fat meal accompanied by either a high- or low-epicatechin cocoa drink an hour and a half before undergoing an 8-minute mental stress task.
Their vascular function was assessed by measuring their brachial flow-mediated dilation, referring to how much an artery can widen in the event of increased blood flow. This was done at the start of the trial and then 30 and 90 minutes after the stress task.
For the high-epicatechin group, the 30-minute flow-mediated dilation measurement was lower, and it had already significantly improved by 90 minutes, indicating a quicker recovery from the effects of stress.
Other effects of stress were measured, including prefrontal cortical oxygenation, forearm blood flow, blood pressure, cardiovascular activity, common carotid artery diameter and blood flow, and mood. No differences were seen between high- and low-epicatechin groups for these measurements.
While high-fat foods may be tasty and comforting, the researchers’ previous work strongly suggests that if a person is looking to recover from the ill effects of stress, it is best to avoid such food items.
This is especially true for people who have stressful jobs or who experience stress regularly.
The study’s corresponding author, Catarina Rendeiro, PhD, lecturer in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Birmingham, U.K., told Medical News Today that:
“Highly stressful jobs can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases up to 40% in comparison to individuals that are free from those stressors. This is probably, at least partially, due to the constant impairments in vascular function from stress that likely become more permanent impairments.”
Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, who was not involved in the study, listed the possible effects of long-term stress for a person who does not have time to recover between events.
He noted that “having elevated levels of stress over prolonged periods can result in chronic increases in stress hormones, inflammation, and blood pressure, which could then lead to cardiovascular disorders such as hypertension, heart attack, or stroke.”
Rendeiro pointed out that a minor decrease in flow-mediated dilation may equate to a significant increase in a person’s cardiovascular disease risk.
According to Rendeiro, it is not entirely clear why fat consumption delays the recovery of flow-mediated dilation following mental stress, although there is evidence of increased triglycerides and C-reactive protein levels in the blood several hours after consuming fatty foods.
Elevated levels of these reduce endothelium-derived nitric oxide, impairing endothelial function. This may be why cocoa helps.
Michelle Routhenstein, MS, RD, CDCES, CDN, a preventive cardiology dietitian and heart health expert at EntirelyNourished, who was likewise not involved in the study, posited that cocoa flavanols “may help reduce recovery time from stress regardless of eating fatty foods due to their ability to increase nitric oxide levels.”
Rendeiro similarly noted that epicatechin in cocoa enhances “the availability of vasodilator […] nitric oxide, which is known to improve vascular function.”
“Flavanols,” explained Routhenstein, “are a type of flavonoid, a group of plant compounds known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Other sources of flavanols include green tea, the skins of apples, berries, and grapes.”
There are also indications, Rendeiro said, that “triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles may cause direct injury to the vascular wall. Alternatively, fat consumption may induce endothelial dysfunction indirectly by increasing oxidative stress.”
The researchers found, however, that cocoa appeared to have no beneficial effect on the restriction of brain oxygenation due to stress.
“Stress-induced changes in brain blood flow could result in cognitive changes such as difficulty concentrating, difficulty in memory, impaired decision-making, or even mood changes,” Chen explained.
Even so, the study’s findings regarding cocoa are welcome.
“The good news,” concluded Rendeiro, “is that, when you’re stressed, if you can’t help but reach for the fatty food, by adding a healthy flavanol-rich food to that meal, you can minimize the effects of stress and fat combined in vascular function.”
The study notes that you can consume 5.5 tablespoons of unprocessed cocoa, 2 cups of green tea, or 300 grams of berries to obtain a similar amount of beneficial flavanols as used in the study.
“We wouldn’t encourage people to eat the fatty foods in the context of stress to start with, but in situations in which it happens, you have an additional dietary strategy that you can use to mitigate those effects,” the corresponding author advised.
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This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
