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Dose-dependent effects of flavanol-rich dark chocolate intake before resistance exercise on arterial stiffness in
Urara Hata1, Tetsuzen Rin2, Midori Natsume2
1Graduate School of Health and Sport Science, Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, Japan.
Aims:
This study investigated the effects of dark chocolate intake volume and cocoa polyphenol content on arterial stiffness after resistance exercise. Experiment 1 examined different intake volumes, while Experiment 2 examined different polyphenol contents per 50 g of dark chocolate.
Methods:
Eleven healthy young men participated in each experiment (there was an overlap of seven participants). Experiment 1 consisted of a 0 g, 25 g, and 50 g trial. In Experiment 2, participants completed a high (HCP), medium (MCP), and non-cacao polyphenol (NCP) trial. In both experiments, the resistance exercise included a bench press (5 sets of 5 repetitions at 80% of one repetition maximum [1RM]) and bicep curls (5 sets of 10 repetitions at 70% 1RM). Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), arterial compliance, and β-stiffness index were recorded at baseline, before, immediately after, and 30 and 60 min after resistance exercise.
Results:
In both experiments, baPWV significantly increased immediately after resistance exercise compared to baseline in all trials (p < 0.05). In the 0 g and 25 g trials of Experiment 1, baPWV remained elevated at 30 and 60 min after resistance exercise (p < 0.05). In Experiment 2, baPWV remained significantly elevated in the NCP and MCP trials (p < 0.05) at 30 and 60 min.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that the volume-dependent effect of dark chocolate may contribute to the rapid decrease in arterial stiffness with resistance exercise, and that an intake of 50 g of dark chocolate containing 1285 mg of cocoa polyphenols is likely optimal.
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