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news.Confectionary giant Mars Inc is to release research proving that certain cocoa compounds could help treat a number of illnesses including diabetes, strokes and vascular disease.
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Mars has apparently discovered how to replicate important cocoa compounds known as flavanols, which could present the pharmaceutical industry with a potential new generation of medications.
Flavanols are plant chemicals that not only occur in cocoa beans but also in other foods such as green tea, red wine and tomatoes. Studies have shown that eating flavanols-rich food can be beneficial to one’s health.
The new research may enable sick individuals to benefit directly from flavanols because the synthesized compounds could be incorporated into medicines.
Mars has found that the flavanols had the same blood-thinning properties as aspirin, a substance commonly used to prevent heart disease.
Norm Hollenberg, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, which shared some of the research with Mars, said: “The mounting scientific evidence on cocoa flavanols is extraordinary. This is a scientific breakthrough that could well lead to a medical breakthrough.”
According to the Financial Times, Mars said it was already in “serious discussions” to license pharmaceutical companies as developers of the synthesized flavanols.