Posted on 10/05/2025 8:47:39 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Could cocoa extract supplements rich in cocoa flavanols reduce inflammation and, in turn, prevent age-related chronic diseases?
In a new study from the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS), investigators looked at changes in five age-related markers of inflammation among participants who received daily cocoa supplements over several years.
They found that hsCRP—an inflammatory marker that can signal increased risk of cardiovascular disease—decreased in participants taking the cocoa extract supplement, suggesting its anti-inflammatory potential may help explain its heart-protective effects.
Nutritional interventions have become an increasingly attractive solution for slowing inflammatory aging, so-called "inflammaging." Cocoa extract has been shown in previous, smaller studies to reduce inflammatory biomarkers, thanks to flavanols—small, bioactive compounds found not only in the cocoa bean but also berries, grapes, tea, and other plant-based foods.
To bridge the gap between these studies and humans, researchers launched the large-scale COSMOS trial, which examines the effects of cocoa extract on cardiovascular disease, and whether inflammaging may explain those effects.
Between 2014 and 2020, Brigham and Women's Hospital led the COSMOS trial, a large-scale, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with 21,442 participants over 60 years old, finding that cocoa extract supplementation decreased cardiovascular disease mortality by 27%.
Researchers collected and analyzed blood samples of 598 COSMOS participants to measure several inflammaging biomarkers: three pro-inflammatory proteins (hsCRP, IL-6, and TNF-α), one anti-inflammatory protein (IL-10), and one immune-mediating protein (IFN-γ).
Comparing changes in these biomarkers measured at baseline, one, and two years follow-up, hsCRP levels decreased by 8.4% each year compared with placebo, while the other biomarkers remained relatively consistent or increased modestly.
The decrease in hsCRP may help explain the cardio-protective effects seen with cocoa extract supplement in the larger COSMOS trial, where participants experienced a reduction in cardiovascular disease death.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I have posted on it, before.
But probably not enough in my nightly cup of cocoa to make a difference.
I took Mars CocoaVia for a couple of years maybe five years ago, then quit. Supplements are tricky because most of the time you don’t see any immediate improvement in anything. CocoaVia is expensive, too.
We have boxes of it we bought on one of their sales (maybe Black Friday) and, yes, it adds up.
I would encourage GlyNAC and green tea as a cheaper way to get some of these benefits.
And too much sugar. Straight cocoa powder, no sugar, but organic honey. Great drink for men.
Can't really grow the rest, a bit far north for that.
Please. Just tell me if I can eat this chocolate bar I have hidden!!! 😜
I wonder if reduc8ng inflamation with cocoa will have the effect of reduc8ng chances of developing cancer like one of your other posts talked about?
Why would you recommend a cocoa over cacao. Cacao is tradtionally thought to have more high flavanol because of the way its processed.
I think that he is recommending that we read the study. He didn’t design the study, he’s just reporting on its results. I am grateful for that, especially since this particular one deals with heart issues and I had a heart attack about 14 months ago.
As an aside, I put a heaping teaspoon of organic cacao into my coffee every morning because I believe, as you do, that it has more flavenols than cocoa. I am pretty sure that this study use the Cocoa Via product because of easy availability and standardization; I wish that they had used cacao, but I am nonetheless going to continue using cacao myself. BTW, I use coffee from Life Extension that is processed in a way that preserves as much in the way of its (different than cacao) flavenols as possible, because I am an “all of the above” kind of guy when it comes to my heart health. I also convinced my cardiologist to prescribe colchicine, which reduces vascular inflammation (which is the cause of plaque, NOT cholesterol) and am taking a daily 81 mg aspirin. So I am hitting inflammation from multiple different angles.
Oh, I also take a quality EVOO every morning and evening, and I often times eat a couple ounces from a 90% cocoa chocolate bar (which, by necessity, has relatively little sugar), as well as eat sardines (in EVOO) several times per week for the omega-3s that reduce inflammation, plus severely limit my intake of foods that cause inflammation. Like I said above, it is a multi prong approach. I know I’m not going to live forever, but I’d like to get the most out of this life as possible. Cacao is only one of the tools available, though very tasty one (me being an old chocaholic), so it’s easy to use.
According to ConsumerLab:
The cheapest and safest cocoa powder, delivering 200 mg of flavanols per 2.5 tablespoons (only 10 cents for that 2.5 tablespoons) is “Good & Gather [Target] Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 100% Cocoa.”
The other option to get 200 mg of flavanols is to take about half a capsule of “CocoaVia™ Brain Health Memory+.” That amounts to about 30 cents.
As you can tell, it takes a lot of cocoa to get to the levels the study used. 200 is lower than what was given.
I also convinced my cardiologist to prescribe colchicine, which reduces vascular inflammation (which is the cause of plaque, NOT cholesterol) and am taking a daily 81 mg aspirin. So I am hitting inflammation from multiple different angles.
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are you taking crestor or are you off the statins.
Organic honey is a solution of fructose, glucose, sucrose, and other sugars ... It might rightly be called "High Fructose Bee Barf" ... "sugar" from beets or cane is almost entirely sucrose.
Elsewhere, we're told to be deathly afraid of corn syrup because of its high fraction of fructose ...
Huh ...
Don't get me wrong ... I generally prefer honey as a beverage sweetener, but that's for the flavor profile not the types of sugars it contains.
There were several cacao powders also tested that scored okay with heavy metals from older reviews.
You need just over three teaspoons of “Terrasoul Superfoods Cacao Powder - 100% Cacao” to get 200 mg of flananols.
Volupta Cacao Powder needed 2 tablespoons to get 200 mg of flavanols.
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