LONDON, March 12 (UPI) -- A Harvard Medical School professor researching Panama's Kuna population has tabbed a compound in cocoa as a potential ally in the fight against disease.
Based on his research, Harvard Professor Norman Hollenberg found that those in Panama who ate unrefined cocoa likely benefited from a compound within it and suffered less from four common diseases, The Independent said.
He found that be ingesting the compound epicatechin, less than 10 percent of the Kuna population suffered from heart disease, cancer, diabetes or stroke.
The medical professor even lobbied for the compound to be considered a vitamin due to its major health potential.
"We all agree that penicillin and anesthesia are enormously important," he said. "But epicatechin could potentially get rid of four of the five most common diseases in the Western world."
The paper said that epicatechin is also found within certain fruits and vegetables, along with chocolate, wine and tea.
