FIG. 8.

Acute and sustained effects of flavanol-containing cocoa. At study entry, baseline values for flow-mediated dilation (FMD) were similar in both groups. In the treatment group (squares), FMD was significantly augmented over time. On top of sustained FMD increases, acute improvements were observed at 2 h after ingestion of flavanol-containing cocoa. No significant changes could be observed in the control group (circles). Data are given as mean ± standard deviation. *Indicates significant differences in FMD compared with baseline differences within each group, p < 0.001; ^#Indicates significant differences in FMD between the control group and the treatment group, p < 0.05. Reprinted with permission from Balzer et al. (17).