Consumption of cocoa in adults : and its effects on cardiovascular incidences

Abstract

Background: Statistics show that global demand for cocoa has increased. On the other hand cardiovascular disease is globally the leading cause of death. It was therefore seen advantageous to amalgamate the two together which determined the research question based on the PICO framework consisting of; P: adults prone to cardiovascular incidences, I: consumption of cocoa, C: no cocoa consumed, O: reduction of cardiovascular incidences. Therefore the following research question was developed: Does the consumption of cocoa reduce the risk of cardiovascular incidences in adults? Search Design: The author undertook the search from October to December 2015. Several databases where searched on the Hybrid Discovery portal. Google Advanced Scholar was also used for the retrieval of relevant journals. Dr. Mario Caruana, a nutritionist was also contacted through the University of Malta. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: Journals with full text available, published in English between the years 2005 and 2015, are peer-reviewed, contain studies performed on human adults ≥18 years, used systematic reviews and meta-analyses, randomised controlled trials, single or double blinding, the population involved individuals prone to a form of cardiovascular illness, and consumed cocoa or any of its derivatives. Any opposing criteria to the inclusion criteria were by default exclusion criteria. Appraisal Tools: Journals were selected for appraisal through the CASP tools for Systematic Reviews and RCTs and then ranked according to the Hierarchy of Evidence by Polit & Beck, (2014). Results: The consumption of cocoa; reduces blood pressure, increases; flow mediated dilation and high density lipoprotein levels. In some studies it even improved blood insulin and glucose levels; ultimately cocoa reduced risks for cardiovascular incidences. Recommendations: The study of cocoa is still relatively new; more advanced research is required, as is suggested in Chapter 5. Consequently, approved conventional forms of therapeutic and pharmaceutical treatment of cardiovascular disease must be adhered.