High Flavonols Cocoa Intake for the Improvement of Body Fat Composition in Athletes

The objective of this project was to investigate the effects of chronic daily consumption of high in flavanols cocoa in body composition and performance of endurance athletes: A randomized, blinded, parallel placebo controlled intervention study was carried out in endurance athletes . The number of male athletes enrolled in the study was 40, with ages between 18 and 50 years and an aerobic power consumption of oxygen greater than or equal to 55 mL / kg / min). The intervention was carried out for 10 weeks. Cocoa or placebo (maltodextrin) were supplied in sachets of a single daily dose. Cocoa provided 425 mg of flavanols/ day. Athlete's body composition was evaluated by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Exercise performance was evaluated with a treadmill test protocol determining the maximum aerobic capacity and also by determining the time necessary to run a kilometer at maximum speed. Adipokines (follistatin, myostatin and leptin) in plasma and serum samples were determined by ELISA. Diet was determined by three 24h‐recall questionnaries and a Food Frecuency questionnaire.