Shaking up HDL and LDL cholesterol with high-flavanol cocoa
Q: I started using CocoaVia after listening to a People’s Pharmacy radio show about the benefits of chocolate. I used it for six weeks before my annual physical.
I don’t know if the CocoaVia was the cause, but my HDL cholesterol had jumped from 58 to 78, and my LDL had dropped considerably. My doctor wrote “fantastic” on the lab report he sent me.
I am hoping someday to get off my bloodpressure medicine, lisinopril, by losing weight, exercising more and continuing to take CocoaVia. Do the chocolate studies say anything about it lowering LDL and raising HDL?
A: CocoaVia is a standardized high-flavanol cocoa. A review of 10 studies found that cocoa products or dark choco- late significantly lowered total and LDL cholesterol (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2011).
A recent mouse study found that supplementing the animals’ diets with cocoa improved their cholesterol levels and reduced the amount of plaque in their aortas (Mediators of Inflammation online, Feb. 15, 2016).
Your personal experience is consistent with the results of another study in which giving cocoa flavanols every day lowered blood pressure, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol while it raised good HDL cholesterol and improved blood-vessel flexibility (British Jour- nal of Nutrition, Oct. 28, 2015).
Q: I used to take naproxen for the pain of a gout flare-up, but now I hear it can cause a problem with my Coumadin.
Is there any safe antiinflammatory medication that can be taken with Coumadin to help with the intense pain caused by gout flareups? Are there any natural anti-inflammatory supplements or foods that might help?
A: Warfarin (Coumadin) is an anticoagulant medicine that reduces the risk for blood clots. Drugs like naproxen or other NSAID pain relievers (celecoxib, diclofenac, ibuprofen, meloxicam, etc.) can add to the anti-clot- ting effect and increase the risk of bleeding.
Adding to the danger of this combination, NSAIDs often damage the lining of the digestive tract. Even a tiny ulcer could bleed dangerously when warfarin is being taken.
Many people report that tart cherries or cherry juice (Montmorency) can be helpful for gout flare-ups (BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, March 1, 2016). We could find no research on interactions between cherries and warfarin. If you decide to try cherries, make sure you have your blood tested on a regular basis.
Write to Joe and Teresa Graedon via their website: PeoplesPharmacy.com.