Background Cocoa beans fresh from the tree are exceptionally rich in flavanols.
Unfortunately, during conventional chocolate making, this high antioxidant capacity is
greatly reduced due to manufacturing processes.
Aim To evaluate the photoprotective potential of chocolate consumption, comparing a
conventional dark chocolate to a specially produced chocolate with preserved high
flavanol (HF) levels.
Methods A double-blind in vivo study in 30 healthy subjects was conducted. Fifteen
subjects each were randomly assigned to either a HF or low flavanol (LF) chocolate
group and consumed a 20 g portion of their allocated chocolate daily. The minimal
erythema dose (MED) was assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks under standardized
conditions.
Results In the HF chocolate group the mean MED more than doubled after 12 weeks of
chocolate consumption, while in the LF chocolate group, the MED remained without
significant change.
Conclusions Our study demonstrated that regular consumption of a chocolate rich in
flavanols confers significant photoprotection and can thus be effective at protecting
human skin from harmful UV effects. Conventional chocolate has no such effect