Your Health: May 1, 2000

GOOD NEWS

COCOA PUFF Hard to believe, but cocoa--well, a defatted extract of it--may be good for the heart. In a study, rabbits were fed a cholesterol-rich diet along with 200 mg of the extract daily. After two months, the bunnies' blood vessels did a better job contracting and relaxing than the vessels of rabbits fed the same diet but deprived of the extract. Cocoa contains powerful antioxidants called flavonoids that sweep up damaging molecules in cells. The rabbit news isn't license to drown in hot chocolate. But food companies are working on cocoa-extract supplements--and low-fat cocoa-packed drinks.

SUPER DRUG The...

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