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Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements for Seniors
Compound in Cocoa Significantly Cuts Risk of
Diseases that Kill Senior Citizens
Researcher says epecatechin discovery as important as
penicillin
March 12, 2007 A compound found in cocoa,
epecatechin, is believed to have reduced the risk of four of the five
most common killer diseases among senior citizens to less than 10
percent among the Kuna people of Panama. The health benefits are so
striking that the Harvard medical professor who has studied the effect
for years says this could rival penicillin and anesthesia in importance
to public health.
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Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements |
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Norman Hollenberg, professor of medicine at Harvard
Medical School, also told Chemistry & Industry writer Marina Murphy
that epicatechin is so important that it should be considered a
vitamin.
Hollenberg has spent years studying the benefits of
cocoa drinking on the Kuna people and says he has found that the risk of
common killer diseases: stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes, is
reduced to less then 10% in the Kuna.
This reduction in cardiovascular risk is extremely
important new for senior citizens. Over
83 percent of people who die of coronary heart disease are 65 or older.
He reports these people may drink up to 40 cups of
cocoa a week. Natural cocoa has high levels of epicatechin, which is a
flavonoid. Flavonoids are most commonly known for their antioxidant
activity the obstruction to oxidation of other chemicals.
Oxidation reactions can involve the production of
free radicals, which can form dangerous chain reactions. Antioxidants
can terminate these chain reactions by removing radical intermediates
and can inhibit other oxidation reactions by being oxidized themselves.
Flavanols like epicatechin are removed for
commercial cocoas because they tend to have a bitter taste, reports
Murphy. So there is huge scope for nutritional companies to develop
epicatechin supplements or capsules
Epicatechin is also found in teas, wine, chocolate
and some fruit and vegetables.
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 anesthesia are
enormously important. But epicatechin could potentially get rid of 4 of
the 5 most common diseases in the western world, how important does that
make epicatechin?... I would say very important.
Nutrition expert Daniel Fabricant says that
Hollenbergs results, although observational, 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.
But, Fabricant, who is vice president scientific
affairs at the Natural Products Association, says: the link between
high epicatechin consumption and a decreased risk of killer disease is
so striking, it should be investigated further. It may be that these
diseases are the result of epicatechin deficiency, he says.
Currently, there are only 13 essential vitamins. An
increase in the number of vitamins would provide significant opportunity
for nutritional companies to expand their range of products.
Editors Notes:
Used as a reference for this article was
Wikipedia.com, the free encyclopedia. Follow this link from more about
flavonoids.
About Chemistry & Industry
Chemistry & Industry magazine from SCI delivers
news and comment from the interface between science and business. As
well as covering industry and science, it focuses on developments that
will be of significant commercial interest in five- to ten-years time.
Published twice-monthly and free to SCI Members, it also carries
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http://www.chemind.org
About SCI
SCI is a unique international forum where science
meets business on independent, impartial ground. Anyone can join, and
the Society offers a chance to share information between sectors as
diverse as food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology,
environmental science and safety. As well as publishing new research and
running events, SCI has a growing database of member specialists who can
give background information on a wide range of scientific issues.
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