TY - JOUR
T1 - The acute and sub-chronic effects of cocoa flavanols on mood, cognitive and cardiovascular health in young healthy adults
T2 - A randomized, controlled trial
AU - Massee, Laura A.
AU - Ried, Karin
AU - Pase, Matthew
AU - Travica, Nikolaj
AU - Yoganathan, Jaesshanth
AU - Scholey, Andrew
AU - Macpherson, Helen
AU - Kennedy, Greg
AU - Sali, Avni
AU - Pipingas, Andrew
PY - 2015/5/20
Y1 - 2015/5/20
N2 - Cocoa supplementation has been associated with benefits to cardiovascular health. However, cocoa's effects on cognition are less clear. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial (n = 40, age M = 24.13 years, SD = 4.47 years) was conducted to investigate the effects of both acute (same-day) and sub-chronic (daily for four-weeks) 250 mg cocoa supplementation on mood and mental fatigue, cognitive performance and cardiovascular functioning in young, healthy adults. Assessment involved repeated 10-min cycles of the Cognitive Demand Battery (CDB) encompassing two serial subtraction tasks (Serial Threes and Sevens), a Rapid Visual Information Processing task, and a mental fatigue scale over the course of half an hour. The Swinburne University Computerized Cognitive Assessment Battery (SUCCAB) was also completed to evaluate cognition. Cardiovascular function included measuring both peripheral and central blood pressure and cerebral blood flow. At the acute time point, consumption of cocoa significantly improved self-reported mental fatigue and performance on the Serial Sevens task in cycle one of the CDB. No other significant effects were found. This trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (Trial ID: ACTRN12613000626763). Accessible via http://www.anzctr.org.au/TrialSearch.aspx?searchTxt=ACTRN12613000626763&ddlSearch=Registered.
AB - Cocoa supplementation has been associated with benefits to cardiovascular health. However, cocoa's effects on cognition are less clear. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial (n = 40, age M = 24.13 years, SD = 4.47 years) was conducted to investigate the effects of both acute (same-day) and sub-chronic (daily for four-weeks) 250 mg cocoa supplementation on mood and mental fatigue, cognitive performance and cardiovascular functioning in young, healthy adults. Assessment involved repeated 10-min cycles of the Cognitive Demand Battery (CDB) encompassing two serial subtraction tasks (Serial Threes and Sevens), a Rapid Visual Information Processing task, and a mental fatigue scale over the course of half an hour. The Swinburne University Computerized Cognitive Assessment Battery (SUCCAB) was also completed to evaluate cognition. Cardiovascular function included measuring both peripheral and central blood pressure and cerebral blood flow. At the acute time point, consumption of cocoa significantly improved self-reported mental fatigue and performance on the Serial Sevens task in cycle one of the CDB. No other significant effects were found. This trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (Trial ID: ACTRN12613000626763). Accessible via http://www.anzctr.org.au/TrialSearch.aspx?searchTxt=ACTRN12613000626763&ddlSearch=Registered.
KW - Cardiovascular
KW - Chocolate
KW - Cocoa
KW - Cognition
KW - Flavanols
KW - Mental fatigue
KW - Mood
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930653189&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fphar.2015.00093
DO - 10.3389/fphar.2015.00093
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84930653189
SN - 1663-9812
VL - 6
JO - Frontiers in Pharmacology
JF - Frontiers in Pharmacology
M1 - 93
ER -