Table 2.
The effect of CF supplementation on exercise-induced inflammation
| Reference | Participants | Nutritional Intervention | Supplementation period | Exercise stimulus | Measure(s) | Key outcome(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allgrove et al. [42] |
20 healthy males Age 22 ± 4 years Mass 74.6 ± 8 kg V̇O2max 53.1 ± 7.0 ml·kg−1 Power output 300 ± 30 W |
CF: 80 g dark chocolate a day for 14 days, 197.4 mg CF per dose (EPI: 77.4 mg, CAT: 31.2 mg) CON: 56.8 g iso-CHO-fat control chocolate, 0 mg CF |
Each day for 14 days, with a half dose 2 h pre-exercise |
Cycling at 60% V̇O2max for 1.5 h, intensity raised to 90% every 10 min for 30 s 5 min post cycling there was a time to exhaustion trial at 90% V̇O2max |
(i) Circulating leukocytes (ii) Neutrophils (iii) IL-10 (iv) IL-6 (v) IL-1ra |
(i–v) ↔ between groups |
| Davison et al. [47] |
14 healthy males Age 22 ± 1 years Mass 71.6 ± 1.6 kg V̇O2max 53.1 ± 1.9 ml·kg−1 min−1 Power output 300 ± 12 W |
CF: 100 g dark chocolate 246.8 mg CF (EPI: 96.8 mg, CAT: 39.1 mg) CON: isomacronutrient control, 0 mg CF None: water |
Acute dose 2 h pre-exercise | Cycling at ~ 60% V̇O2max for 2.5 h | IL-6 | ↔ between groups |
| Decroix et al. [43] |
12 well-trained males Age 30 ± 3 years Stature 177.9 ± 8.8 cm Mass 72.8 ± 7.8 kg V̇O2max 63.0 ± 3.5 ml·kg−1 min−1 |
CF: cocoa drink, 900 mg CF (EPI: 185 mg, CAT: 20 mg) CON: placebo, 15 mg CF (EPI: 0 mg, CAT: 0 mg) |
Acute dose 1.5 pre-exercise | Two 30 min time trials 60 min apart, performed at a ~ 75% peak power output |
(i) TNF-α (ii) IL-1 (iii) IL-6 |
(i) ↔ between groups (ii) ↔ between groups |
| Morgan et al. [48] |
10 active males Age 23 ± 3 years Stature 184 ± 59 cm Mass 85.3 ± 12.0 kg Single leg 1RM 90.4 ± 19.0 kg |
CF: 330 ml cacao juice, 74 mg CF (EPI: 8 mg, CAT: 43 mg) CON: 330 ml CHO and flavour matched placebo, 0 mg CF |
10 days supplementation (7 days pre-exercise, 3 days post) | 10 sets of 10 single leg knee extensions at ~ 80% 1RM |
(i) CRP (ii) IL-6 |
(i) ↔ between groups (ii) ↔ between groups |
| Taub et al. [50] |
17 sedentary (9 males 8 females) participants CF: Age 50 ± 3 Stature 168 ± 3 Mass 78.8 ± 5.6 V̇O2max 22.9 ± 1.9 ml·kg−1 min−1 CON: Age 50 ± 2 Stature 175 ± 5 Mass 92.2 ± 9.7 V̇O2max 24 ± 1.7 ml·kg−1 min−1 |
CF: 20 g dark chocolate, 175.2 mg CF (EPI: 26 mg, CAT: 4.6) CON: 20 g placebo chocolate |
Chronic (3 months daily intake) | Cycling exercise including V̇O2max | CRP | ↔ between groups |
CF, cocoa flavanols; EPI, epicatechin; CAT, catechin; CON, control; CHO, carbohydrate; IL, interleukin; CRP, c-reactive protein; TNF-α, Tumour-necrosis factor-; ↔ , no significant effect/change