These preliminary results suggest a therapeutic effect of cocoa on walking performance in people with peripheral artery disease.

PMID: 

Circ Res. 2020 Feb 14. Epub 2020 Feb 14. PMID: 32078436

Abstract Title: 

Cocoa to Improve Walking Performance in Older People With Peripheral Artery Disease: The Cocoa-Pad Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.

Abstract: 

Cocoa and its major flavanol component, epicatechin, have therapeutic properties that may improve limb perfusion and increase calf muscle mitochondrial activity in people with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD).In a phase II randomized clinical trial, to assess whether six months of cocoa improved walking performance in people with PAD, compared to placebo.Six-month double blind randomized clinical trial in which participants with PAD were randomized to either cocoa beverage vs. placebo beverage. The cocoa beverage contained 15 grams of cocoa and 75 mgs of epicatechin daily. The identical appearing placebo contained neither cocoa nor epicatechin. The two primary outcomes were six-month change in six-minute walk distance measured 2.5 hours after a study beverage at 6-month follow-up and 24 hours after a study beverage at 6-month follow-up, respectively. A one-sided P value

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