Table 1.
Studies investigating cocoa and blood pressure.
| Reference | Year | Study design | Population | Duration (weeks) | Intervention | Reduction of SBP/DBP active group (mmHg) | Reduction of SBP/DBP control group (mmHg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fraga et al. (41) | 2005 | Randomized crossover | 28 normotensive | 2 | High-flavanol milk (168 mg)/white chocolate | −6/−5 | −2/−1 |
| Grassi et al. (42) | 2005 | Randomized crossover | 15 normotensive | 1 | Dark (500 mg flavanols)/white chocolate | −7/−4.2 | −0.5/−0.3 |
| Crews et al. (43) | 2008 | Randomized double-blind parallel | 101 normotensive | 6 | Dark chocolate (397 mg flavanol) and cocoa drink (357 mg flavanol)/low-flavanol chocolate and drink | −3.58/−0.5 | −3.05/−0.57 |
| Mastroiacovo et al. (44) | 2015 | Randomized double-blind parallel | 90 normotensive | 8 | High (993 mg)/intermediate (520 mg)/low (48 mg) flavanol cocoa drink | −7.83/−4.77 | −1.60/−1.57 |
| Sansone et al. (27) | 2015 | Randomized double-blind parallel | 100 normotensive | 4 | High (450 mg)/low-flavanol cocoa drink | −4.4/−3.9 | −1/0 |
| Grassi et al. (23) | 2015 | Randomized double-blind crossover | 20 normotensive | 1 | High (800, 500, 200, 80 mg)/low (0 mg) flavanol cocoa | −4.8/−3.03 | –/– |
| Murphy et al. (45) | 2003 | Randomized double-blind parallel | 32 normotensive | 4 | High (234 mg flavanols and procyanidins)/low-flavanol chocolate | +2/−1 | +3/0 |
| Engler et al. (46) | 2004 | Randomized double-blind | 21 normotensive | 2 | High (213 mg procyanidins, 46 mg epicatechin)/low-flavanol chocolate | −1/+0.9 | −2.8/−0.1 |
| Shiina et al. (47) | 2009 | Randomized single-blind | 39 normotensive | 2 | Dark (550 mg flavanols)/white chocolate | +4.6/+6.6 | +4/+5.2 |
| Njike et al. (48) | 2011 | Randomized crossover | 44 normotensive overweight | 6 | High/low-flavanol cocoa drink | +2.2/−0.5 | −0.1/+0.8 |
| Taubert et al. (49) | 2003 | Randomized crossover | 13 hypertensive | 2 | Dark (500 mg flavanols)/white chocolate | −5.1/−1.8 | +0.4/+0.3 |
| Taubert et al. (50) | 2007 | Randomized single-blind parallel | 44 pre-hypertensive/hypertensive | 18 | Dark(30 mg flavanols)/white chocolate | −2.9/−1.9 | +0.1/0 |
| Grassi et al. (51) | 2005 | Randomized crossover | 20 hypertensive | 2 | Dark (500 mg flavanols)/white chocolate | −11.9/−8.5 | −0.7/−0.6 |
| Muniyappa et al. (52) | 2008 | Randomized double-blind crossover | 20 hypertensive | 2 | High (900 mg)/low-flavanol drink | −2/−3 | −1/−4 |
| Davison et al. (53) | 2010 | Randomized double-blind crossover | 52 hypertensive | 6 | High (1,052 mg)/low-flavanol cocoa drink | −5.3/−3 | −2.1/+0.1 |
| Grassi et al. (54) | 2008 | Randomized crossover | 19 hypertensive with IGT | 2 | Dark (1,008 mg polyphenols)/white chocolate | −3.8/−3.9 | −0.1/−0.2 |
| Davison et al. (55) | 2008 | Randomized parallel | 49 normotensive obese or overweight | 12 | High (902 mg)/low-flavanol cocoa | −1.9/−1.8 | +4.2/+2.8 |
| Rostami et al. (28) | 2015 | Randomized double-blind | 60 hypertensive diabetic | 8 | Dark/white chocolate | −5.9/−6.4 | −1.1/+0.2 |
| Monagas et al. (56) | 2009 | Randomized crossover | 47 diabetics or more than 3 CV risk factors | 4 | Cocoa powder (495 mg polyphenols) with milk/milk | 0.0/−2 | −3/−3 |
| De Palma et al. (57) | 2016 | Randomized crossover | 32 patients with stable HF | 4 | High (1,064 mg)/low-flavanol dark chocolate | −1.8/−4.2 | −0.9/+2.9 |
IGT, impaired glucose tolerance; HF, heart failure; CHD, coronary heart disease; CV, cardiovascular; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure.