RT Journal Article
T1 Chronic flavanol-rich cocoa powder supplementation reduces body fat mass in endurance athletes by modifying the follistatin/myostatin ratio and leptin levels
A1 García Merino, Jose Ángel
A1 Moreno Pérez, Diego
A1 de Lucas, Beatriz
A1 Montalvo Lominchar, Maria Gregoria
A1 Muñoz, Elsa
A1 Sánchez Barroso, Lara
A1 Naclerio, Fernando
A1 Herrera Rocha, Karen Marlene
A1 Moreno Jiménez, Martha Rocío
A1 Rocha Guzmán, Nuria Elisabeth
A1 Larrosa Pérez, María Del Mar
AB Flavanols-rich cocoa has positive effects on lipid metabolism and might enhance the performance of athletes through an improvement in their body composition. To test this hypothesis a placebo-controlled intervention study in training endurance athletes who received 5 g of cocoa daily (425 mg of flavanols) for 10 weeks was performed. Dietary intake, body composition, exercise performance and plasma levels of follistatin, myostatin and leptin were measured. Cocoa intake significantly reduced body fat percentage (p = 0.020), specifically in the trunk (p = 0.022), visceral area (p = 0.034) and lower limbs (p = 0.004). The reduction in body fat mass was accompanied by an increase in plasma follistatin and a decrease in leptin, while myostatin levels remained unchanged. The intake of cocoa reduced the percentage of body fat of athletes, without any impact on athletes’ performance. The change in fat body composition did not improve athletes’ performance.
PB Royal Society of Chemistry
SN 2042-6496
SN 2042-650X
YR 2020
FD 2020-04-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/96166
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/96166
LA eng
DS Docta Complutense
RD 12 abr 2025