ReviewBMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation2021
The effects of cocoa flavanols on indices of muscle recovery and exercise performance: a narrative review.
Review in BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative effects of plant-derived anthocyanin- and flavanol-rich supplements on recovery outcomes after exercise-induced muscle damage: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Polyphenol supplementation boosts aerobic endurance in athletes: systematic review.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of energy drinks on repeated sprint performance and cognitive function in athletes.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Trial
- Dark Chocolate Mitigates Premenstrual Performance Impairments and Muscle Soreness in Female CrossFitNutrients · 2025Trial
- From Macronutrients to Functional Foods: Nutritional Strategies for Recovery Following High-Intensity Exercise.Food science & nutrition · 2026Review
- Review
- Eccentric Exercise and Muscle Damage: An Introductory Guide.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Review
- Changes in the mucosal immunity induced by diets enriched with cocoa and hesperidin in intensively trained and exhausted rats.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Revitalizing Muscle Regeneration: Cocoa Polyphenols Shield Mitochondrial Integrity and Boost Myogenesis Under Oxidative Stress.Microscopy research and technique · 2025Article
- The Effects of Pomegranate Supplementation on Markers of Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Review
- Temporal tracking of cysteine 34 oxidation of plasma albumin as a biomarker of muscle damage following a bout of eccentric exercise.European journal of applied physiology · 2024Article
- Resveratrol promotes mitochondrial energy metabolism in exercise-induced fatigued rats.Nutrition research and practice · 2023Article
- 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
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) is associated with oxidative stress and inflammation, muscle soreness, and reductions in muscle function. Cocoa flavanols (CF) are (poly)phenols with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and thus may attenuate symptoms of EIMD. The purpose of this narrative review was to collate and evaluate the current literature investigating the effect of CF supplementation on markers of exercise-induced oxidative stress and inflammation, as well as changes in muscle function, perceived soreness, and exercise performance. Acute and sub-chronic intake of CF reduces oxidative stress resulting from exercise. Evidence for the effect of CF on exercise-induced inflammation is lacking and the impact on muscle function, perceived soreness and exercise performance is inconsistent across studies. Supplementation of CF may reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress, with potential for delaying fatigue, but more evidence is required for any definitive conclusions on the impact of CF on markers of EIMD.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.