Cocoa Compounds Promote Digestive Health

While a number of previous studies of cocoa have revealed cardiovascular benefits of the flavanols, antioxidant compounds, contained, a team from University of Reading (United Kingdom) has demonstrated beneficial effects of cocoa flavanols on human gut bacteria.  Jeremy Spencer and colleagues studied 21 healthy adults, randomizing each to consume a beverage containing 23 (low) or 494 (high) milligrams of cocoa flavanols per day. The intervention lasted for four weeks, followed by four weeks of no intervention to ‘washout’ the participants, prior to crossing over to the other intervention for a further four weeks.  The team observed a significant increase in gut levels of bifidobacterial and lactobacilli populations as a result of the high-cocoa phase, as compared with the low-cocoa phase. The changes in the lactobacilli numbers were associated with reductions in levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation implicated in cardiovascular disease.  Writing that: “This study shows, for the first time to our knowledge, that consumption of cocoa flavanols can significantly affect the growth of select gut microflora in humans,” the researchers submit that their data “suggests the potential prebiotic benefits associated with the dietary inclusion of flavanol-rich foods.”