A CHOCOLATE pill that claims to cut the risk of heart attacks, strokes and dementia will soon be available in the UK.
Scientists found flavanols from cocoa assist the production of nitric oxide, aiding blood flow.
EU regulators approved the nutrient as a medicinal food last month.
But for an effective dose, a person would have to eat 400g of dark chocolate, containing 2,429 calories – or 329 per cent of a person's daily allowance of fat.
So experts have made the Flow+ pill containing flavanol in its purest form.
Dr Alf Lindberg, of Cambridge Nutraceuticals, said: “We believe this is the way forward.
"Maintaining the elasticity of blood vessels is very important.
"Even slightly elevated blood pressure in midlife is linked to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and dementia.
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"Increased blood pressure in middle age is in part due to increased vascular stiffness and current blood pressure treatments are not very effective at reversing or preventing this.
"Cocoa flavanols and some other dietary polyphenols likely confer benefits that current antihypertensives do not."
Ian Macdonald, professor of metabolic physiology at Nottingham University, is one of Britain's leading cocoa flavanol experts.
He warned that eating dark chocolate would not provide the same intake.
Professor Macdonald added: "You have to mask the taste of pure cocoa because it is so bitter it's unbearable."
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