Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40636155›Full record

ArticleBioscience of microbiota, food and health2025

Ingestion of dark chocolate improves constipation and alters the intestinal microbiota in Japanese women.

Hiroyuki Ito, Atsushi Shimonaka, Midori Natsume, Kumiko Yonekura, Tomoyuki Fukasawa, Satomi Ito, Ayako Sawazaki, Kazuji Tamura, Ikuko Kimura, Jinichiro Koga

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Bioscience of microbiota, food and health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Hiroyuki ItoR&D Division, Meiji Co., Ltd., 1-29-1 Nanakuni, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0919, Japan.
Atsushi ShimonakaR&D Division, Meiji Co., Ltd., 1-29-1 Nanakuni, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0919, Japan.
Midori NatsumeR&D Division, Meiji Co., Ltd., 1-29-1 Nanakuni, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0919, Japan.
Kumiko YonekuraR&D Division, Meiji Co., Ltd., 1-29-1 Nanakuni, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0919, Japan.
Tomoyuki FukasawaR&D Division, Meiji Co., Ltd., 1-29-1 Nanakuni, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0919, Japan.
Satomi ItoR&D Division, Meiji Co., Ltd., 1-29-1 Nanakuni, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0919, Japan.
Ayako SawazakiR&D Division, Meiji Co., Ltd., 1-29-1 Nanakuni, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0919, Japan.
Kazuji TamuraR&D Division, Meiji Co., Ltd., 1-29-1 Nanakuni, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0919, Japan.
Ikuko KimuraMedical Research Department, Beauty & Health Research Inc., 4-2-18 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan.
Jinichiro KogaDepartment of Biosciences, School of Science and Engineering, Teikyo University, 1-1 Toyosatodai, Utsunomiya-shi, Tochigi 320-8551, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In a previous study, we found that proteins from cacao beans (cacao proteins) were resistant to digestive enzymes and that ingestion of the indigestible cacao proteins promoted defecation and altered the intestinal microbiota in mice. Therefore, we investigated whether ingestion of dark chocolate containing high amounts of cacao proteins improves constipation and alters the intestinal microbiota in Japanese women. Bowel movement frequency and stool amount after dark chocolate ingestion were significantly higher than before dark chocolate ingestion and significantly higher than after ingestion of white chocolate with no cacao proteins. Next, stool samples were collected, and the intestinal microbiota was analyzed by next-generation sequencing-based 16S rRNA. There was no significant difference in the α-diversity index of the gut microbiota between before and after ingestion of white chocolate, but the α-diversity index of the gut microbiota after ingestion of dark chocolate was significantly higher than before ingestion. The relative abundances of

Indexed as

bowel movementcacao proteinsconstipationdark chocolateFaecalibacteriumprebioticsTheobroma cacao

Identifiers

PMID40636155
PMCPMC12236174

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.