Catechins and epicatechins are found in a variety of plant sources. The largest source of catechins in the human diet are found in chocolates, wine, teas and vegetables.

Catechins also demonstrate antioxidant activities. Remember antioxidants are needed to remove the toxins from our bodies, but our bodies don’t make these so we must find products that are high in antioxidant levels to keep our bodies healthy.

Studies have shown that catechins can reduce atherosclerotic plaques, therefore are beneficial to us for cardiovascular purposes. Epicatechins can reduce the risk of 4 major health problems: stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes. A professor named Norman Hollenburg who teaches at Harvard Medical School, did a study of people in Panama who drank 40 cups of cocoa a week and found that the prevalence of the major 4 health problems was less than 10%. He believes that epicatechins should be considered essential to the diet and should be classed as a vitamin.

We can obtain the power of epicatechins and catechins by adding products made from unprocessed cacao to our daily diets. It is true that catechins and epicatechins can also be found in fruits and vegetables, but the body needs to capture as many different types of catechins as possible such as those found in tea and chocolate. Dark chocolate has higher concentrations of catechins due to the higher levels of cocoa.

Be sure to add unprocessed cacao to your daily diets to get the highest levels of catechins and epicatechins in your system needed to prevent the ‘Big Four’: stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes.

Until next time,
Dr. Mommy