What Cocoa Flavanols May Do for Circulation and Cognition

Okay. So Jessica is asking, you mentioned earlier in a Q&A that you take CocoaVia as a supplement. I'm unfamiliar with this supplement. What are its benefits? So CocoaVia has cocoa flavanols in it. And One of these is the epicatechin. It's found in very high concentrations actually in chocolate, and it's been shown in studies to enhance blood circulation, improve cognition, and actually even reduce wrinkles in human studies. So let's start with circulation. So there was a study with elderly patients that had peripheral artery disease, and those who drank a beverage that had flavanol-rich cocoa in it 3 times a day for 6 months were able to walk 46 yards further in a 6-minute walking test compared to those that drank the placebo beverage.

And so it was shown that the improvement in their walking ability was a consequence to increased blood flow in their calves and also improved muscle function. So that was a super interesting study. There was another study that was actually done in young healthy males that showed that dark chocolate improved their, their cycling. So basically those that had dark chocolate were able to cycle 17% farther in the same amount of time than those that had the placebo control, which was white chocolate. And the study also showed that they basically didn't need to consume as much oxygen to, to basically cycle farther as well.

There was another randomized double-blinded crossover study in young healthy people that consumed various doses of these cocoa flavanols ranging from 0 to 80 milligrams, or sorry, 800 milligrams of these cocoa flavanols per day for 1 week, and circulation and blood pressure was measured. And so there was a dose-dependent increase in circulation. Um, effects were seen as little as— with a dose as little as 80 milligrams per day for 1 week. And the 800 milligram per day showed the best improvement in terms of circulate— improved circulation. Uh, the cocoa also decreased systolic blood pressure by about 5 points and diastolic blood pressure by about 3 points. So, so basically a person whose blood pressure was 140 over 90 went down to 135 over 87.

So those were the 3 studies that were involving blood circulation. Cognition, there's also been some studies with cognition. So, and of course, the improved, you know, increased and improved blood flow also means improved blood flow to the brain. Cardiovascular health is very, very tightly correlated with cognitive function and cognitive health in general. So one study showed that a single dose of 450 milligrams of these cocoa flavanols has been shown to increase blood flow to the brain as measured by MRI imaging. So one of the areas of the brain that gets increased blood flow is the dentate gyrus region, which is part of the hippocampus associated with memory. And increased blood circulation translates to protection from cognitive decline.

Another study found that elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment that were using up to 990 milligrams of these cocoa flavanols per day for 8 weeks saw improvement in their verbal fluency and their mental tests compared to the placebo controls. So they also had improvements in their— they saw a decrease in insulin resistance and a decrease in blood pressure as well as a decrease in lipid peroxidation. So there were metabolic improvements that also corresponded with the improvements in cognitive function. And last but not least, the skin.

There have been— there has at least been one study that has shown that in a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial in Korean women whose ages ranged from their 40s to 80s that took 320 milligrams of cocoa flavanols per day for 24 weeks, they had an improvement in their facial skin wrinkles and skin elasticity compared to placebo group. So, I typically, I think, take around the 375 milligrams of the cocoa flavanols. The reason I use CocoaVia is because I've looked at some third-party testing. For example, ConsumerLab has done pretty extensive testing on a lot of the cocoa. They've done like chocolate bars, they've done the cocoa supplements, and they've also done like the cocoa powders as well.

And they've looked for a variety of factors including contamination from cadmium and arsenic, lead. These things are a major problem with chocolates, cocoas, and things like that. And they also looked at the actual concentration of the cocoa flavanols. So there was— so there's a ratio, you know, you want to— you want a product that's high in the cocoa flavanols but low in the contaminants. And, and CocoaVia was the absolute best in terms of Lowest contaminants and very concentrated flavanols. And in fact, the Cocoa Via itself was used in several of the randomized controlled trials that I just mentioned. So I give it to my mom. I also take it. And but one thing to consider is that it does, because it is chocolate, it does have a moderate amount of caffeine.

So it's something to take in the morning and not With, you know, not with your dinner because you don't want to take caffeine at night and, you know, you don't want it to disrupt your sleep. In fact, I've got— got my brand of CocoaVia right here on my desk. So typically this is what I take. They also have an unsweetened packet that you can make like cocoa with and if you want to add things like monk fruit or stevia to it. By the way, I have no affiliation with CocoaVia at all. I just happen to have done a lot of research on their brand and I like it.