- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Consumption of Flavan-3-ol-Rich Foods may help Lower Blood Pressure: Study

According to a meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, foods rich in flavan-3-ols—such as cocoa, tea, and certain fruits—may help lower blood pressure. Flavan-3-ols, found in cocoa, tea, and certain fruits, show promise in improving blood pressure (BP) and vascular function, but are currently not used for cardiovascular prevention. This meta-analysis evaluated the effects of flavan-3-ol-rich interventions on BP and endothelial function.PubMed was searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published 1946-03/2024 on BP and flow-mediated dilation (FMD) after flavan-3-ol-rich food, beverage, or supplement intake. Random-effects meta-analysis of 109 publications including 145 RCTs and 5,205 participants was performed. Results: Flavan-3-ol interventions included epicatechin, epigallocatechin-gallate, cocoa products, tea, grape extract, and apples delivering 586 mg (95%CI 510,662) total flavan-3-ols. Interventions decreased office (-2.8 [95%CI -3.9, -1.7]/-2.0 [-2.6, -1.3] mmHg) and 24h-ambulatory BP (-3.7 [-5.8, -1.6]/-2.6 [-4.5, -0.8] mmHg) after chronic repetitive consumption. Effects were larger with elevated and hypertensive baseline BP or categorical hypertension (office: -5.9 [-10.0, -1.8]/-2.7 [-4.4, -1.0] mmHg, 24h-ABP: -6.8 [-16.3,2.8]/-5.1 [-12.5,2.2] mmHg). Meta-regression analysis confirmed that the magnitude of BP lowering was inversely related to baseline BP, but not to proportion of participants with CVD, diabetes mellitus, and study duration across all studies, and was dose-dependently related to epicatechin dose only in cocoa studies. FMD increased after acute (+2.0% [1.6,2.3]) and repetitive (+1.7% [1.3,2.2]) consumption independent of BP. Reported adverse events were minor and low (0.4%). The considerable heterogeneity of effect sizes (I2>50%) between studies was not explained by the investigated factors limiting the strength of evidence to ‘moderate’. Flavan-3-ol-rich foods considerably reduce elevated BP and improve endothelial function independent of blood pressure supporting their use for cardiovascular prevention.
Reference:
Vasiliki Lagou, Arno Greyling, Mario Ferruzzi, Simon S Skene, Joy Dubost, Ayse Demirkan, Inga Prokopenko, Julie Shlisky, Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, Christian Heiss, Impact of flavan-3-ols on blood pressure and endothelial function in diverse populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2025;, zwaf173, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf173
Keywords:
Vasiliki Lagou, Arno Greyling, Mario Ferruzzi, Simon S Skene, Joy Dubost, Ayse Demirkan, Inga Prokopenko, Julie Shlisky, Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, Christian Heiss, Impact, flavan-3-ols, blood pressure, endothelial function, diverse populations, systematic review, meta-analysis, randomised, controlled trials, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology
Dr. Shravani Dali has completed her BDS from Pravara institute of medical sciences, loni. Following which she extensively worked in the healthcare sector for 2+ years. She has been actively involved in writing blogs in field of health and wellness. Currently she is pursuing her Masters of public health-health administration from Tata institute of social sciences. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.