Methods and results: Fifty healthy male and female middle-aged volunteers [57.26 5.24 years
and body mass index (BMI) 30.59 2.33 kg/m2] were recruited to participate in a 4 week randomised,parallel and double-blind study.
After following 3 days on a low-polyphenol diet, 25 volunteers received meals supplemented with 1.4 g of cocoa extract (645.3 mg of polyphenols) and the other 25 participants received control meals, within a 15% energy restriction diet.
On the 4th week of intervention individuals in both dietary groups improved (p < 0.05) anthropometric, body composition, blood pressure and blood biochemical measurements.
Oxidised LDL cholesterol (oxLDL), showed a higher reduction (p Z 0.030) in the cocoa group. Moreover, myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels decreased only in the cocoa supplemented group (p Z 0.007).
Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (sICAM-1) decreased significantly in both groups, while
Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) did not present differences after the 4 weeks of
intervention. Interestingly, cocoa intake showed a different effect by gender, presenting more
beneficial effects in men.