Table 1.
Acute effects of cocoa polyphenols on exercise-mediated oxidative stress, inflammation, and exercise performance.
| First Author, Year, (Reference) | Study Design | Number of Participants, Sex, Age, Weight | Exercise Protocol | Interventions (mg Polyphenols Daily) | Measurements | Circulating Leucocyte | IL-6 | CK; LDH | Oxidative Stress Markers | EP and R Improvement (Yes/No) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davidson et al. [58] | RCT, crossover design | 14, male, 22 ± 1 years, 71.6 ± 1.6 kg | 2.5 h cycling | 100 g DCHO (39.1 mg catechin, 96.8 mg epicatechin); cocoa-liquor-free control bar (0 mg); 2 h before exercise | Rest, pre-exercise, post-exercise, after 1 h recovery | ↔ by DCHO | ↔ in DCHO | NE | TAS: ↑ in DCHO; F2-isoprostane: ↓ by DCHO | No |
| Decroix et al. [54] | RCT, crossover design | 12, male, 30.5 ± 3 years, 72.8 ± 7.8 kg | 2 cycling sessions of 30 min; | HFCD (900 mg) or LFCD (15 mg) before first exercise session | Baseline, after 100 and 230 min from supplementation; after training sessions | NE | ↔ by CF | NE | TEAC: ↑ by HFCD; MDA: ↔ by HFCD | No |
| Wiswedel et al. [57] | RCT, double-blind, cross-over | 10, male, 20–40 years | Cycling, 29 min | HFCD (187 mg flavanols) or LFCD (14 mg flavanols) 2 h pre-exercise | At baseline and after 2, 4 and 6 h from ingestion | NE | NE | NE | F2-isoprostanes: ↔ by HFCD; ↑ by LFCD | NE |
| Peschek et al. [56] | RCT, single-blind, cross-over | 8, male, 24.6 ± 5.6 years, 73.4 ± 7.0 kg | 30 min downhill running; after 48 h, 5 km running | HFCD (2 × 350 mg) or placebo (0 mg) after downhill running | At baseline, after 24 h, after 48 h, after 5 km running | NE | NE | CK and LDH: ↔ by HFCD | NE | No |
| Stellingwerff et al. [51] | Randomized, single blind, crossover | 9, male, 30.0 ± 6.1 years, 72.8 ± 6.0 kg | 2.5 h cycling, plus a time trial of 15 min | HFCHO (262 mg) or LFCHO (<0.05 mg) acutely (2 h pre-exercise) | After time trial | NE | NE | NE | NE | No |
Abbreviations: CK, creatine kinase; DCHO, dark chocolate; EP, exercise performance; HFCD, high-flavanol cocoa drink; HFCHO, high-flavanol dark chocolate; IL-6, interleukin 6; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; LFCD, low-flavanol cocoa drink; LFCHO, low-flavanol chocolate; MDA, malondialdehyde; NE, not evaluated; R, recovery; RCT, randomized controlled trial; TAS, Total Antioxidant Status; TEAC, Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity; ↓, decrease; ↑ increase; ↔ no change.