Cocoa

Studies in people

• Open question

  Heart and blood health²

  Eating chocolate or cocoa did not change most health measures, though it slightly improved triglycerides in some studies.

• Benefit

  Heart and blood vessel health³

  Cocoa may help blood pressure and blood vessel function, but how it does so is still debated.

• Benefit

  Exercise recovery and blood flow⁴

  Cocoa flavanols may reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress and lower blood pressure in obese people, but not improve athletes' performance.

• Benefit

  Mood and gut bacteria⁵

  People eating 85% cocoa chocolate daily felt less negative mood, and their gut bacteria changed too.

• No harm found

  Memory and thinking in older adults⁶

  In older people, taking cocoa extract every day for 3 years did not improve memory or thinking.

• Open question

  Weight control in obese adults⁸

  Studies in obese adults give mixed results on whether cocoa and dark chocolate help with weight control.

• Benefit

  Brain function in young adults⁹

  In young adults, eating cocoa improved thinking skills and brain blood flow in the studies reviewed.

• No harm found

  Brain focus and self-control¹⁰

  Drinking cocoa flavanols once did not change healthy young adults' focus or self-control in computer tasks.

• No harm found

  Type 2 diabetes risk¹¹

  In older adults, taking cocoa extract supplements for about 3.5 years did not lower the chance of getting type 2 diabetes.

• Benefit

  Brain function with age¹²

  In older adults, cocoa flavanols combined with red berries helped people finish a thinking task faster.

• Benefit

  Menopause symptoms¹³

  In menopausal women with metabolic syndrome, a mix containing cocoa polyphenols was linked to fewer hot flushes and less depression.

• Benefit

  Blood vessel health¹⁴

  In people, two weeks of cocoa flavanols lowered signs of blood vessel lining stress and improved vessel function.

• Benefit

  Artery stiffness¹⁵

  In people, eating high-cocoa chocolate daily for four weeks made arteries less stiff, but did not change weight or exercise metabolism.

• No harm found

  Memory and thinking¹⁶

  In healthy young adults, cocoa flavanols did not improve visual working memory recall or accuracy.

• No harm found

  Attention and working memory¹⁷

  In people, drinking cocoa flavanols and caffeine together did not change attention or working memory test results.

• Open question

  Blood pressure in older women¹⁸

  Eating 10 g of cocoa-rich chocolate daily for six months barely changed blood pressure in postmenopausal women.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Heart and blood sugar health²¹

  In lab studies, cocoa's natural compounds are linked to heart protection and blood sugar control, but processing often destroys them.

• Benefit

  Eye blood vessel damage²⁴

  In animal studies, cocoa powder reduced harmful new blood vessel growth and helped protect the retina.

Study type not stated

• Benefit

  Heart and blood vessel health²⁰

  Cocoa polyphenols may help blood vessels, but scientists do not yet know if everyday chocolate has enough.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Cadmium in chocolate⁷

  Cadmium builds up in the body over time, and cocoa products can carry it into chocolate.

How it’s made and used

• Food as enjoyment¹⁹

  Cocoa has been eaten for pleasure for thousands of years in tropical America and for hundreds of years in the western world.

• Antioxidants in chocolate²²

  In lab studies, turning cocoa seeds into chocolate lowered cocoa's bioactive compounds, and digestion changed how much was released.

• Regional bean composition²³

  In lab studies, cocoa beans from different parts of Cameroon differed in theobromine, caffeic acid and fatty acids.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.