Consuming foods enriched with cocoa flavanols may lower blood pressure and protect blood vessel health, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Found in fruits, vegetables, tea and wines, cocoa flavanols are nutrients that provide similar benefits to antioxidants, which rid the body of toxins and free radicals that can lead to numerous health problems, such as cardiovascular complications.

In an effort to determine how these compounds improve heart health, a team of investigators at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) had 16 coronary heart disease patients consume two drinks containing two different levels of cocoa flavanols.

The results of the study showed that drinking the beverage with a higher level of the nutrients increased vasodilation, or widening of the blood vessels, by 47 percent. Furthermore, the researchers discovered that participants had better blood circulation, which resulted in lower blood pressure.

Yerem Yeghiazarians, associate professor of medicine at UCSF, stated that “dietary flavanols at the levels provided are safe, improve cardiovascular function, and increase circulating angiogenic cells, which have previously been shown to correlate positively with long-term cardiovascular outcomes.”

In 2006, approximately 17.6 million people in the U.S. were diagnosed with coronary heart disease, the second most common form of cardiovascular disease, the American Heart Association reports.