Barry Callebaut, manufacturer of high - quality cocoa and chocolate products, has announced that the EU Commission has approved its health claim submission
on cocoa flavanols (Regulation No 851/2013).
Not exact matches
Here, for instance, is an NPR article explaining «a study that found
cocoa flavanols can help boost mood and sustain clear thinking among adults who are engaged in intense mental efforts — like students cramming, or journalists
on deadline.»
A new, extensive five - year study
on the effects of
cocoa flavanols on cardiovascular disease is slated to begin in 2015 and will hopefully reveal more about the antioxidant's impact
on memory.
Earlier studies have demonstrated that
cocoa flavanol intake improves the elasticity of blood vessels and lowers blood pressure — but, for the most part, these investigations have focused
on high - risk individuals like smokers and people that have already been diagnosed with conditions like hypertension and coronary heart disease.
Two recently published studies in the journals Age and the British Journal of Nutrition (BJN) demonstrate that consuming
cocoa flavanols improves cardiovascular function and lessens the burden
on the heart that comes with the aging and stiffening of arteries.
Tienush Rassaf, MD (University Hospital Essen, Germany) and his colleagues tested the potential of
cocoa flavanols, a subgroup of plant - derived polyphenols that are present in
cocoa and have been shown to have beneficial effects
on blood vessel function in individuals with normal kidney function.
Other longer - term studies, such as the 5 - year
COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) of 18,000 men and women, are now underway to investigate the health potential of
flavanols on a much larger scale.
In young and healthy adults, for example, a high demanding cognitive test was required to uncover the subtle immediate behavioral effects that
cocoa flavanols have
on this group.
Although randomized controlled trials investigating the acute effect of
cocoa flavanols are sparse, most of them point towards a beneficial effect
on cognitive performance.
In their recent review published in Frontiers in Nutrition, Italian researchers examined the available literature for the effects of acute and chronic administration of
cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains.
The neuroprotective effects of
cocoa flavanol and its influence
on cognitive performance.
«Dark chocolate, a high source of polyphenols, and
flavanols in particular, has lately received attention for its possible role in modulating obesity because of its potential effect
on fat and carbohydrate metabolism, as well as
on satiety... The research undertaken to date has shown promising results, with the possible implication of
cocoa / dark chocolate in the modulation of obesity and body weight through several mechanisms including decreasing the expression of genes involved in fatty acid synthesis, reducing the digestion and absorption of fats and carbohydrates and increasing satiety.»
our findings suggest
flavanol - rich, low - energy
cocoa food products may have a positive impact
on [cardiovascular disease] risk factors.»
In fact, one study found that drinking hot
cocoa rich in
flavanols (read: dark hot chocolate) boosted blood flow to parts of the brain for up to three hours, improving alertness and performance
on simple calculations.
In another study, older adults who took a supplement made with high -
flavanol cocoa for 3 months performed better
on memory tests.
Based
on these results, the researchers suggest that
cocoa flavanols have potential in the treatment of age - related vascular impairment, including dementia and strokes.
The neuroprotective effects of
cocoa flavanol and its influence
on cognitive performance.
Contemporary scientific research into
cocoa's health benefits have focused primarily
on its rich content of
flavanols, which belong to a class of physiologically active plant compounds known as polyphenols.
«The present findings support recent clinical trials suggesting that regular intake of
cocoa flavanols may have a beneficial effect
on cognitive function, and possibly protect against normal age - related cognitive decline.»