Drinking hot cocoa or green tea could protect you from effects of fatty meals, new research suggests
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The small study, which was conducted by experts at the University of Birmingham, identified that the high level of flavanols in both hot cocoa and green tea can mitigate some of the effects that fatty food choices made during stressful times. Flavanols are noted particularly for their health benefits, including regulating blood pressure and encouraging cardiovascular health.
Dr Catarina Rendeiro, assistant professor in nutritional sciences at the University of Birmingham, and leading author, said: “We know that when people are stressed, they tend to gravitate towards high-fat foods.
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Hide Ad“We have previously shown that fatty food can impair the body’s vascular recovery from stress. In this study, we wanted to see if adding a high-flavanol food to the fatty meal would alleviate the negative impact of stress in the body.”


The test saw 23 healthy adults consume a fatty breakfast of two butter croissants with 10g salted butter, 1.5 slices of cheddar cheese and 250ml whole milk, with one group given a high-flavanol hot cocoa and the other group given a low-flavanol hot cocoa.
The participants were then tasked with completing a mental maths test eight minutes after the breakfast which increased in speed and altered the participant when an answer was wrong, with scientists measuring blood flow in the arm, heart activity and oxygen levels. Results showed that the low-flavanol group shows a reduction in blood vessel function, which lasted up to 90 minutes after the test was over, whereas the high-flavanol group saw a their blood level function remain stable,
Jet Veldhuijzen van Zanten, professor of biological psychology at the University of Birmingham, and author of the study, added: “Modern life is stressful and the impact of stress on our health and the economy has been well documented, so any changes we can make to protect ourselves from some of the symptoms of stress is positive. For those who tend to reach for a treat when stressed or depend on convenient food because they work high-pressure jobs or are time-poor, incorporating some of these small changes could make a real difference.”
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Hide AdHowever, while hot cocoa has been recommended for negating the effects of unhealthy food at stressful times, experts have warned that this is only applicable for minimally processed cocoa, with preservative-laden hot chocolate options not recommended. Other foods high in flavanols include green tea, black tea and berries.
The study has been released as it was revealed that reaching for unhealthy food is costing the UK £260 billion per year. The new report from the Food Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) calculated the cost that unhealthy food choices have on diet-related health issues.
The FFCC said that the food-related cost of chronic disease in the UK includes £67.5 billion in healthcare, £14.3 billion in social care, £10.1 billion in welfare, productivity at £116.4 billion. The report also said that £60bn could be linked to the chronic disease attributable to the current food ecosystem, with ultra-processed food making up over half of the UK adult diet, and two-thirds of the adolescents diet.
Prof Tim Jackson, the director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity at Surrey University, who carried out the analysis, said: “The connection between diet and health is often discussed, but the economics of that link are staggering.
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Hide Ad“When we factor in the health impacts, we discover that the true cost of an unhealthy diet is more than three times what we think we’re paying for our food. Some of these hidden costs, like lost economic productivity, can be hard to see.”
FFCC chief executive Sue Pritchard added: “The state of the nation’s health is not simply the result of under-investment in the NHS. It represents the longstanding failure to take seriously the critical relationship between food and farming, health and inequalities.
“As things are, big food companies are profiting from developing, making and marketing unhealthy food, leaving people with too many unhealthy options – while farmers struggle to make ends meet.”
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