Some types of cocoa plus green tea may offer surprising health benefits

A new study may offer welcome news to both cocoa and green tea drinkers: Compounds in high-flavanol cocoa as well as in green tea offer protection to the body after a person eats fatty foods when stressed. 

"We know that even just one isolated episode of mental stress can impact the elasticity of blood vessels, which can last for up to 90 minutes," Catarina Rendeiro, assistant professor in nutritional sciences at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., said via email to Fox News Digital. She is the lead author of the study. 

Her latest study, however, shows that drinking certain beverages can combat the negative effects. 

"If you combine the fatty food with a drink rich in flavanols, it prevents the effect of stress and fat combined," she said - which "can be used as a strategy to mitigate some of the impact of poorer food choices on blood vessels." 

To test this theory, Rendeiro and her colleagues fed a group of healthy adults a breakfast of "two butter croissants" with 10 grams of salted butter, 1.5 slices of cheddar cheese and 250 milliliters of whole milk. Rosalind Baynham, another author on the study, shared those details in a news release published by the University of Birmingham.

These compounds, she said in the release, have known cardiovascular health benefits. 

The participants were monitored both during the rest period and during the math test. 

The study found that the group that consumed the low-flavanol drink had reduced vascular function for an hour and a half after the test was over. 

However, "the findings showed that the cocoa drink high in flavanols was effective at preventing the decline in vascular function following stress and fat consumption," according to the release.

The results, Rendeiro told Fox News Digital, "can help us make more informed decisions about what we eat and drink during stressful periods." 

Rendeiro also recommends high-quality, minimally processed cocoa powder. 

In addition to lowering blood pressure, it appears that certain types of cocoa, according to a previous report in Healthline, have other properties that may reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Flavanol-rich cocoa "improves the level of nitric oxide in your blood, which relaxes and dilates your arteries and blood vessels and improves blood flow," the publication has noted.

While the U.K. participants were given cocoa drinks as their flavanol consumption during the study, it is not the only source of the compounds, Reindeiro said.