Cocoa could keep cold hands warm

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We all like the feeling of holding a warm cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day don’t we? Well now research into Raynaud’s disease has highlighted that a steaming cup of cocoa could indeed have a medicinal benefit too.

Raynaud’s is a common circulatory condition in which the small blood vessels in the fingers or toes constrict in response to cold, turning white and numb, then painful and blue, before flushing red and hot upon warming.

A new trial conducted by the University of Nottingham have shown that compounds known as flavanols found in cocoa can improve blood flow and blood pressure too. In the study participants consumed four capsules containing cocoa or a placebo daily for three months.