Table 5.

Studies on obesity and lipid metabolism related to cocoa or chocolate use, included in this review.

Study	Study Design	Food Type	Main Outcomes
Gu Y. et al. 2014 [66]	In vitro mice study	Cocoa	Dietary supplementation with cocoa in obese mice ameliorates obesity-related inflammation, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease
Matsui N. et al. 2005 [67]	In vivo rat study	Cocoa	Cocoa ingestion decreased fatty acid synthesis and transport in liver and white adipose tissues, determining a body weight, mesenteric white adipose tissue weight and serum triacylglycerol concentrations lower in rats fed the cocoa diet than in those fed the mimetic cocoa diet
Massolt E.T. et al. 2010 [68]	Randomized controlled trial in human	Chocolate	Smell or ingestion of dark chocolate determined suppression of appetite because of the changes in ghrelin.
Greenberg J.A. et al. 2013 [69]	Prospective human cohort study	Chocolate	Habitual chocolate consumption was associated with long-term weight gain, in a dose-response manner
Lee Y. et al. 2017 [72]	Randomized controlled trial in human	Chocolate and cocoa	Consumption of almonds alone or combined with dark chocolate under controlled-feeding conditions improved lipid profiles
Allen R.R. et al. 2008 [74]	Double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over human study	Chocolate	Regular consumption of chocolate bars containing plant sterols and cocoa flavanols as part of a low-fat diet supported cardiovascular health by lowering cholesterol and improving blood pressure
Di Renzo L. et al. 2013 [75]	Case-control human study	Chocolate	Regular consumption of dark chocolate determined favourable effects on HDL cholesterol, lipoprotein ratios and inflammation markers in normal weight obese women