Cocoa Polyphenols

Looking to buy Cocoa Polyphenols? Buy from Amazon.com

Chocamine, otherwise known as Cocoa extract, is a non-caloric extract from chocolate which retains some taste and most health properties of chocolate.

It is a fairly well researched compound shown to reliably lower the risk of heart disease. It can also exert anti-carcinogenic and anti-obesogenic effects.

A dose can be attained through consumption of small amounts of dark and bitter chocolate, or through supplemental form.

Looking to buy Cocoa Polyphenols? Buy from Amazon.com

Follow this Page for updates

A standard dose of chocamine is in the range of 500-1000mg daily. Lower values are needed for the health benefits, and higher values tend to have more potent appetite suppression.

Although chocamine content of chocolate varies, generally the more bitter a chocolate form is the better. 75g of (bitter) dark chocolate has been used with success in numerous studies.

This does not mean you should be pigging out on chocolate. Note the recommended dosage (especially the amount of dark chocolate that will satisfy for a reasonable dose).

Sol Orwell!

Edit1. Chocamine composition

Chocamine is essentially Cocoa Extract (derived from Cacao seeds). It is not one ingredient but a blend of multiple ingredients native to chocolate.^[1] A complete ingredient list is:

• Xanthines (Caffeine and theobromine)
• Biogenic amines (Phenethylamine, tyramine)
• Catechins (Including some Green Tea Catechins) and their parent group, the Flavanols
• Procyanidins

The content of polyphenolics (Flavanols plus procyanidins) ranges heavily depending on type of chocolate, and on a weight basis per defatted chocolate can range from 8.07 to 484.7 mg/g.^[2]

Edit2. Cardiovascular Health

2.1. Blood Pressure

One of the modes of cardiac protection that chocamine provides is via reduction of blood pressure via inhibition of Angiotension converting enzyme (ACE), establishing a role of chocamine as an ACE inhibitor^[3] and possibly a mediator of Nitric oxide.^[4][5] These cardiac effects are theorized to be due to the flavanol content of chocamine.

One meta-analysis of 20 studies^[6] concluded that consumption of cocoa products (usually dark chocolate or cocoa supplementation) is associated with a 2-3mmHg reduction of blood pressure.

In interventions, cocoa flavanols at doses above 520mg can reduce blood pressure in elderly persons.^[7]

2.2. Lipids and Cholesterol

Polyphenolic compounds in chocamine can also reduce total LDL and Triglyceride levels^[8] while reducing LDL oxidation rates and platlet reactivity.^[9][10]

2.3. Interventions

Various human trials show promise with chocamine, either in supplemental form or administered in food form around 75g of dark chocolate, as effective in reducing various markers of heart disease.^[4][11][12] Overall chocamine shows a modest but relatively consistent decrease in blood pressure around 5mm/Hg systolic, which correlates to a 20% reduced risk of a cardiovascular event over 5 years.^[12][13]

Edit3. Interactions with Neurology

3.1. Blood Flow and Stroke

In a cohort of 37,103 men (Sweden) followed for 10.2 years found a decreased risk of stroke associated with chocolate with the highest quartile (25%) of consumption, with a median intake of 62.9g weekly, having an 0.83 relative risk compared to the no chocolate intake; the CI was 0.70-0.99.^[14]

3.2. Cognition

One study conducted on elderly persons with mild cognitive decline noted that cocoa flavanols were able to improve cognitive performance in a relatively dose dependent manner at both 520mg and 990mg daily, as assessed by Trail making tests and Verbal Fluency.^[7]

Edit4. Appetite suppression and weight management

Chocamine may exert anti-obesogenic effects through various mechanisms, despite not being a direct inducer of lipolysis or thermogenesis.

It scent of chocolate (preserved by aromatic compounds in chocamine) is enough to potentially reduce appetite.^[15]

Chocamine possesses anti-lipase activities and may interfere with fatty acid digestion.^[16]

Edit5. Bacterial and Viral Interactions

5.1. HIV

The structure of epicatechin, found in chocolate but is one of the main four Green Tea Catechins, has been found to normalize adverse changes (by the Tat protein; elevated in HIV) with proBDNF and BDNF, which exerted neuroprotective effects against the side-effects of HIV with greater potency than Resveratrol.^[17]

References

1. Crozier SJ, et al. Cacao seeds are a "Super Fruit": A comparative analysis of various fruit powders and products. Chem Cent J. (2011)
2. Determination of Flavanol and Procyanidin (by Degree of Polymerization 1-10) Content of Chocolate, Cocoa Liquors, Powder(s), and Cocoa Flavanol Extracts by Normal Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography: Collaborative Study
3. Persson IA, et al. Effects of cocoa extract and dark chocolate on angiotensin-converting enzyme and nitric oxide in human endothelial cells and healthy volunteers--a nutrigenomics perspective. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. (2011)
4. Ried K, et al. Does chocolate reduce blood pressure? A meta-analysis. BMC Med. (2010)
5. Vlachopoulos C, Alexopoulos N, Stefanadis C. Effect of dark chocolate on arterial function in healthy individuals: cocoa instead of ambrosia. Curr Hypertens Rep. (2006)
6. Ried K, et al. Effect of cocoa on blood pressure. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. (2012)
7. Desideri G, et al. Benefits in cognitive function, blood pressure, and insulin resistance through cocoa flavanol consumption in elderly subjects with mild cognitive impairment: the Cocoa, Cognition, and Aging (CoCoA) study. Hypertension. (2012)
8. Tokede OA, Gaziano JM, Djoussé L. Effects of cocoa products/dark chocolate on serum lipids: a meta-analysis. Eur J Clin Nutr. (2011)
9. Hamed MS, et al. Dark chocolate effect on platelet activity, C-reactive protein and lipid profile: a pilot study. South Med J. (2008)
10. Pearson DA, et al. Flavanols and platelet reactivity. Clin Dev Immunol. (2005)
11. Desch S, et al. Effect of cocoa products on blood pressure: systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Hypertens. (2010)
12. Taubert D, Roesen R, Schömig E. Effect of cocoa and tea intake on blood pressure: a meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. (2007)
13. Glynn RJ, et al. Development of predictive models for long-term cardiovascular risk associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Hypertension. (2002)
14. Chocolate consumption and risk of stroke: A prospective cohort of men and meta-analysis
15. Massolt ET, et al. Appetite suppression through smelling of dark chocolate correlates with changes in ghrelin in young women. Regul Pept. (2010)
16. Gu Y, et al. Inhibition of key digestive enzymes by cocoa extracts and procyanidins. J Agric Food Chem. (2011)
17. Nath S, et al. Catechins protect neurons against mitochondrial toxins and HIV proteins via activation of the BDNF pathway. J Neurovirol. (2012)

(Common misspellings for Cocoa Polyphenols include chocmine, choamine, chocolamine)

(Common phrases used by users for this page include chocolate polyphenol supplements, chocamine supplement, chocamine seed side affects, chocamine ingredients, chocamine information, chocamine)

(Users who contributed to this page include Sol, KurtisFrank)