ReviewNutrients2019
Effect of Cocoa Products and Its Polyphenolic Constituents on Exercise Performance and Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage and Inflammation: A Review of Clinical Trials.
Review in Nutrients, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Flavonoid Containing Polyphenol Consumption and Recovery from Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2021Pooled it
- Dark Chocolate Mitigates Premenstrual Performance Impairments and Muscle Soreness in Female CrossFitNutrients · 2025Trial
- Acute Dosing Strategy with Vistula Tart Cherries for Recovery of Strenuous Exercise-A Feasibility Study.Nutrients · 2024Trial
- Concomitant dual-site tDCS and dark chocolate improve cognitive and endurance performance following cognitive effort under hypoxia: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Trial
- From Macronutrients to Functional Foods: Nutritional Strategies for Recovery Following High-Intensity Exercise.Food science & nutrition · 2026Review
- Advancements in two-dimensional nanomaterials for regenerative medicine in skeletal muscle repair.Materials today. Bio · 2025Review
- Revitalizing Muscle Regeneration: Cocoa Polyphenols Shield Mitochondrial Integrity and Boost Myogenesis Under Oxidative Stress.Microscopy research and technique · 2025Article
- Dark Chocolate Elevates Resting Energy Expenditure in Postmenopausal Women.International journal of exercise science · 2025Article
- The Use of Some Polyphenols in the Modulation of Muscle Damage and Inflammation Induced by Physical Exercise: A Review.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Mental Performance and Sport: Caffeine and Co-consumed Bioactive Ingredients.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Review
- Antioxidative properties of phenolic compounds and their effect on oxidative stress induced by severe physical exercise.The journal of physiological sciences : JPS · 2022Review
- The Combined Effects of 6 Weeks of Jump Rope Interval Exercise and Dark Chocolate Consumption on Antioxidant Markers in Obese Adolescent Boys.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Article
- Review
- Cocoa, Chocolate, and Human Health.Nutrients · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In recent years, the consumption of chocolate and, in particular, dark chocolate has been "rehabilitated" due to its high content of cocoa antioxidant polyphenols. Although it is recognized that regular exercise improves energy metabolism and muscle performance, excessive or unaccustomed exercise may induce cell damage and impair muscle function by triggering oxidative stress and tissue inflammation. The aim of this review was to revise the available data from literature on the effects of cocoa polyphenols on exercise-associated tissue damage and impairment of exercise performance. To this aim, PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched with the following keywords: "intervention studies", "cocoa polyphenols", "exercise training", "inflammation", "oxidative stress", and "exercise performance". We selected thirteen randomized clinical trials on cocoa ingestion that involved a total of 200 well-trained athletes. The retrieved data indicate that acute, sub-chronic, and chronic cocoa polyphenol intake may reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress but not inflammation, while mixed results are observed in terms of exercise performance and recovery. The interpretation of available results on the anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of cocoa polyphenols remains questionable, likely due to the variety of physiological networks involved. Further experimental studies are mandatory to clarify the role of cocoa polyphenol supplementation in exercise-mediated inflammation.
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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.