Trial reportThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2019
High Flavonoid Cocoa Supplement Ameliorates Plasma Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Levels While Improving Mobility and Quality of Life in Older Subjects: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial.
Trial report in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03585868 (Evaluation of the Effects of a COcoa Supplement to Reduce FRailty in the Elderly), which is not on this map. Cited by 39 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Evaluation of the Effects of a COcoa Supplement to Reduce FRailty in the Elderly: COFRE a Randomized Clinical Trial
Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of antioxidants with or without exercise training improving muscle condition in older adults.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Cocoa Consumption on Cardiometabolic Risk Markers: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of flavonoids on skeletal muscle mass, strength and physical performance in middle-aged and older adults with or without Sarcopenia: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Effects of resistance-based training and polyphenol supplementation on physical function, metabolism, and inflammation in aging individuals.GeroScience · 2026Trial
- Effects of 2-year cocoa extract supplementation on inflammaging biomarkers in older US adults: findings from the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study randomised clinical trial.Age and ageing · 2025Trial
- Trial
- The Effect of a Citrus and Pomegranate Complex on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being in Healthy Elderly: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2022Trial
- Cocoa-Rich Chocolate and Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Nutrients · 2020Trial
- Cocoa to Improve Walking Performance in Older People With Peripheral Artery Disease: The COCOA-PAD Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.Circulation research · 2020Trial
- Antioxidant Interventions on Muscle Function and Mass in Aging-Related Muscle Decline: A Systematic Review of Preclinical and Clinical Evidence.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review
- Phytochemical-Based Therapeutic Strategies for Sarcopenia: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Translation.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Effect of (-)-Epicatechin on Mitochondrial Homeostasis in Skeletal Muscle of Female Obese Rats.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Physiological and Recovery Responses to Dietary Polyphenols in the Context of Exercise: Relevance for Muscle Aging and Sarcopenia.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Effects of Cacao Flavonoids in Long COVID-19 Patients with Chronic Fatigue: FLALOC, a Placebo-Controlled Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Oxidative Stress and Nutritional Antioxidants in Renal Diseases: A Narrative Review.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Associations between flavonoid-rich food and flavonoid intakes and incident unhealthy aging outcomes in older United States males and females.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Inverse associations between dietary flavonoid and subclass intakes and frailty in U.S. adults.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Dietary polyphenols and sarcopenia: epigenetic mechanisms and geroscience perspectives for muscle health in aging.Frontiers in aging · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe age-related decline in mass, strength, and performance of skeletal muscle is associated with loss of independence, falls risk, disability, institutionalization, and death.
methodsTo determine whether a cocoa supplement enriched in flavonoids can improve plasma markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, physical performance and frailty in middle-aged and older subjects, we conducted a two-phase, randomized, double-blind, clinical trial. The initial study included 60 subjects (55- to 70-year-old) allocated into placebo (P), highly alkalinized (no-flavonoid; NF), or flavonoid-rich natural cocoa (F) beverage groups. The follow-up study included 74 older subjects (65- to 90-year-old) randomly distributed into NF or F groups. Subjects were instructed to consume the beverages once/day for up to 12-weeks. A comprehensive (aging relevant) set of end points were assessed, which included mean change in blood plasma metabolic and oxidative stress indicators, in physical performance tests and quality of life (QoL).
resultsIn the initial study, the F group showed improved glycemia, triglyceridemia, High-density lipoprotein cholesterol, Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceridemia/HDL index, and oxidative markers. Performance on the Up and Go test, skeletal muscle index, and quality of life also improved. In the follow-up study, F treatment was associated with significant improvements in metabolic, oxidative stress, and inflammatory endpoints and positive effects on physical performance, frailty indicators, and quality of life (F vs. NF group).
conclusionsRegular flavonoids consumption positively affects blood oxidative stress and inflammation end points, cardiometabolic risk markers, physical performance, and quality of life. The sum of such effects may help to mitigate the extent of frailty development in the elderly people.
trial registrationNCT03585868.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.