Substance may even 'rival' penicillin, anesthesia?

It may not roll easily off your tongue, but remember this word: epicatechin. If a Harvard medical professor has his way, the cocoa substance one day may join the list of 13 essential vitamins.

Norman Hollenberg, who for years has researched the effects of cocoa on health, says epicatechin may even rival penicillin and anesthesia in terms of importance to public health, and therefore should be considered a vitamin.

According to Chemistry & Industry magazine, Hollenberg's research shows that the risks of four of the five most common killer diseases - stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes - are reduced to less then 10% in the Kuna people in Panama, who swig up to 40 cups of cocoa a week.

Natural cocoa has high levels of epicatechin.

"If these observations predict the future, then we can say without blushing that they are among the most important observations in the history of medicine," Hollenberg says. "We all agree that penicillin and anaesthesia are enormously important, but epicatechin could potentially get rid of four of the five most common diseases in the western world, how important does that make epicatechin? I would say very important."

'Striking' link 

Nutrition expert Daniel Fabricant, who works with the group that represents supplement makers, says that Hollenberg's results are so impressive that they may even warrant a rethink of how vitamins are defined.

Epicatechin does not currently meet the criteria. Vitamins are defined as essential to the normal functioning, metabolism, regulation and growth of cells and deficiency is usually linked to disease.

At the moment, the science does not support epicatechin having an essential role.

"The link between high epicatechin consumption and a decreased risk of killer disease is so striking, it should be investigated further," says Fabricant, vice president of scientific affairs for the Natural Products Association. "It may be that these diseases are the result of epicatechin deficiency."

Epicatechin is a member of the family of flavanols, subtances contained in plants that scientists believe helps your body ward off heart disease, cancer and other maladies. Health experts believe epicatechin and similar substances may boost levels of nitric oxide in your blood, which then relax the blood vessels and improves blood flow.

But flavanols are removed for commercial cocoas because they tend to have a bitter taste, but Fabricant said manufacturers could put epicatechin in pills or capsules that you could buy over the counter, Fabricant added.

Epicatechin is also found in teas, wine, chocolate and some fruit and vegetables.

Skeptical experts

However, some health experts remain skeptical of epicatechin's prowess. For example, Ellen Mason, a cardiac nurse with the British Heart Foundation, told the BBC network that Hollenberg's research involves a "unique culture" of people and may not apply to the general population.

Therefore, people shouldn't rush out and start drinking high amounts of cocoa to protect their hearts, she added.

Hollenberg's research piles onto the mountain of pro-cocoa studies, some of which were paid for by confectionary companies like Mars, which has been conducting research for at least 15 years on the healthy aspects of cocoa, the BBC reported.

Cocoa and cholesterol

In another recent study, Japanese doctors say that drinking cocoa each day may even boost your HDL "good" cholesterol, which may result from disease-fighting antioxidants called "polyphenols."

Dr. Kazuo Kondo and his team from Tokyo's Ochanomizu University reached their conclusions after studying the effects of cocoa on only 25 men with normal or slightly high cholesterol levels.

But after drinking sugary cocoa each day for 12 weeks, men enjoyed a 24-percent rise in their "good" cholesterol compared to only 5 percent in men in the study who consumed sugary drinks without cocoa, according to March's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Kondo stopped short of saying cocoa was the only reason why the men's HDL cholesterol rose. He added that tea, wine, fruit, and vegetables also contain heart-friendly polyphenols.

The study team included researchers from a Japanese company that makes chocolate products.

Three years ago, food scientists at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., said cocoa teems with nearly twice the amount of antioxidants found in more-heralded red wine and up to three times than the amount in green tea. According to the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

Source: Society of Chemical Industry
Reference: Chemical & Industry

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