Flavanols, a specific class of flavonoids present in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, may play a role in blood pressure reduction, according to research published in the journal Scientific Reports. These non-nutritive bioactives, which are distinct from flavonols, are present in high concentrations in tea, cocoa, and some fruits.
 
The article looked specifically at flavan-3-ol consumption through biomarker analysis, and not on diet reporting, due to the high variability of their content in foods, which makes it difficult to estimate actual intake in the absence of biomarker data. The analysis included results of over 25,618 participants in the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer) study, whose flavanol intake biomarkers were examined in cross-sectional associations with blood pressure outcomes, as well as a number of other cardiovascular disease risk factors.
 
The results appeared to illustrate meaningful differences in blood pressure depending upon flavanol intake, with those in the lowest 10% of flavanol intake bracket estimated to have systolic and diastolic blood pressure between 2 and 4 mmHG higher than those who were among the top 10% bracket in high flavanol consumption. The authors of the study said that these results were comparable to meaningful changes observed in large-scale clinical trials evaluating the impact that the Mediterranean diet, or medium sodium intake interventions have had on blood pressure. Tenably, this implies that flavanol intake can affect overall cardiovascular disease risk and mortality.
 
Even more notably, the authors of the study said that this association was even more pronounced when narrowing the results down to only include participants with hypertension.
 
“Previous studies of large populations have always relied on self-reported data to draw conclusions, but this is the first epidemiological study of this scale to objectively investigate the association between a specific bioactive compound and health,” Professor Gunter Kuhnle, a nutritionist at the University of Reading who led the study, said. “We are delighted to see that in our study, there was also a meaningful and significant association between flavanol consumption and lower blood pressure.”
 
“The methodology of the study is of equal importance,” Kuhnle continued. “This is one of the largest ever studies to use nutritional biomarkers to investigate bioactive compounds.  Using nutritional biomarkers to estimate intake of bioactive food compounds has long been seen as the gold standard for research, as it allows intake to be measured objectively. The development, validation and application of the biomarker was only possible because of the long-term commitment of all collaborators. In contrast to self-reported dietary data, nutritional biomarkers can address the huge variability in food composition. We can therefore confidently attribute the associations we observed to flavanol intake.”
 
According to the international team of researchers, the findings suggest that if the general public increased its flavanol intake, there could be an overall reduction in cardiovascular disease incidence. “In the context of an aging population and increased prevalence of chronic diseases, these findings hold promise for the prevention of cardiovascular disease through dietary approaches,” the authors wrote.