Cocoa reduces the risk of illness and stops persistent coughing.

 Dutch researchers have said that consuming more cocoa may reduce the risk of death from disease.

Cocoa is known to lower blood pressure, although scientists haven't reached a consensus on whether it protects against heart disease in the long term, especially since it's classified as a food high in fat, sugar, and calories.

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine concluded that lower blood pressure wasn't the reason for the overall reduction in death risk, even though people who consumed large amounts of cocoa had lower blood pressure and fewer deaths than those who didn't.

The study added that the reason is due to the antioxidants and flavanols found in cocoa. These substances support the cells that line blood vessels and reduce the risk of cholesterol and other chemicals that can cause heart attacks, lung cancer, or other pulmonary diseases.

Flavanols are classified as a class of healthy chemical compounds known as flavonoids, which are found in many vegetables, green tea, and red wine.

The same study, which lasted approximately 15 years and included around 470 elderly men aged 65 to 84 in the Netherlands, revealed that one-third of them consumed no cocoa-containing products, while the average daily intake among the two-thirds who consumed the most was 4.2 grams.

Between 1985 and 2000, approximately 314 men died, and the risk of death was halved among those who consumed the most cocoa.

Commenting on the study, Dr. Nisa Goldberg, a cardiovascular specialist in New York, stated that a larger study is needed to determine whether cocoa can save lives.

Goldberg, who was not involved in the new study, added that these findings cannot be generalized to the general population because they were conducted on elderly individuals over 65 years of age.

Consuming cocoa stops persistent coughs.

Drinking cocoa reduces the incidence of colds.

British and Hungarian researchers discovered that a compound in cocoa can stop persistent coughs. This was reported in the journal *Federation of American Scientists for Experimental Biology* (FASEB) in its issue released last week.

A team of researchers from Imperial College London, the Royal Brompton Hospital, and the Hungarian company Chinwen found that theobromine, a compound found in cocoa powder used in chocolate manufacturing, is almost one-third more effective at stopping persistent coughs than codeine-based medications, which are currently considered the strongest cough suppressants.

The study was conducted on 10 healthy volunteers, divided into three groups. The first group received codeine, the second group received theobromine, and the third group received a placebo.

Necessity was taken to ensure that neither the patients in the study nor the doctors administering the doses knew which substance each volunteer received.

The researchers then compared the effectiveness of theobromine and codeine by comparing the amount of capsaicin each patient needed to induce a cough. Capsaicin is the active ingredient used in clinical trials to induce coughs, thus testing the effectiveness of experimental cough medicines.

They found that, compared to the group that took codeine, the group that took theobromine, and the group that took a placebo, the second group required about one-third more capsaicin to induce a cough than the third group. The first group required only a slightly higher amount than the third.

In conclusion, theobromine is about one-third more effective at suppressing persistent coughs than codeine-based cough suppressants. It is believed that theobromine's ability to suppress persistent coughs stems from its ability to inhibit the activity of the vagus nerve, which is responsible for triggering the cough reflex. Dr. Maria Belvese, who co-authored the study, pointed out that theobromine had no side effects, and therefore there are no restrictions on the dosage that can be used to suppress coughs. This has been the traditional obstacle to using higher doses of commonly used cough suppressants.

Furthermore, the absence of any of the typical side effects of cough suppressants, such as drowsiness, means that theobromine's use is not restricted to specific times, as it will not negatively affect patients' alertness. Therefore, there is no impediment to using it while operating machinery or driving, for example—precautions that must be considered when using traditional cough medicines.