We all sit around too much, and this sedentary lifestyle can affect our heart—but there are things we can start eating and drinking to offset any damage.
The key is in upping our consumption of flavanols, polyphenols that are good for our cardiovascular system—and we can do that by drinking more cocoa and tea and eating more berries and nuts.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham tested the benefits of flavanols on 40 healthy young people; half were given a flavanol-rich cocoa drink, and the rest a low-flavanol one, and their hearts and blood flow levels were assessed after they had been sitting for two hours.
The fitness levels of the participants didn’t matter: those who drank the low-flavanol drink showed a decline in artery health and blood flow, along with an increase in blood pressure levels, which wasn’t seen in those who had been given the flavanol-rich drink.
If cocoa isn’t your thing, high flavanol levels are also found in fruits like apples, plums and berries, and nuts, and black and green tea.
Interestingly, the researchers found that flavanols were much more important for our cardiovascular system than a visit to the gym.
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