A new study shows drinking cocoa flavanols will improve blood vessel function in the circulatory system of kidney failure patients.
Flavonoids are naturally occurring compounds based in:
- Plants
- Fruits and vegetables
- Tea
- Red wine
- Cocoa
Consuming them are associated with reducing aliments such as cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. We do not know for certain if flavonoids are as effective as they seem. Most studies flavonoid-rich foods seem to only show a correlation and not a relationship.
This gives some hope for Kidney patients with heart problems. When organs have serious problems, when they become damaged or shut down, they can have a major impact on all of the other organs in the body. Remember, the body is a system of interconnected parts dependent on each other. Kidney failure patients are at risk of developing heart problems and are more likely to die from these heart problems than anything else. There are few diet based strategies to helping kidney failure patients with this problem, though changing one’s lifestyle is a major help.
For the study, 57 randomly selected dialysis patients were asked to drink one of two beverages. One had the cocoa flavanols mixed in it. The other was a control beverage which did not have the coca flavanols inside of it. After 30 days, the researchers found, not only had patients tolerated the flavanols well, but they had, in fact, improved blood vessel function.
For more information about which foods can help you maintain a lower protein diet, be sure to take a look at our All-Natural Kidney Health & Kidney Function Restoration Program.
American Society of Nephrology (ASN). “Dietary cocoa flavanols improve blood vessel function in patients with kidney dysfunction.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 December 2015.
