Sugar and cocoa: sweet synergy or bitter antagonisms. Formulating cocoa and chocolate products for health: a narrative review

DD Mellor, Daniel Amund, Ekavi Georgousopoulou, Nenad Naumovski

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

The potential health effects of cocoa flavanols are well described. Ranging from reducing risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease at population levels, moderating disease risk factors including endothelial function and lipid metabolism in clinical trials and mechanistic studies in laboratory studies highlighting target tissues and pathways. However, translating these benefits into public health messages is problematic, due to the high energy and sugar content of many cocoa products, including chocolate. This review considered the role of sugar in cocoa products, what are its physiological effects on bioavailability and bioactivity? Considering, then how cocoa products can be reformulated to reduce sugar intake, and the likely effects on beneficial effects of cocoa flavanols and consumer preferences. Ultimately, although interesting physiological effects are seen with cocoa flavanols, their use as a disease‐modifying commodities may be limited the effect such products may have within an individual's and populations overall dietary patterns.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)33-42
JournalInternational Journal of Food Science and Technology
Volume53
Issue number1
Early online date25 Oct 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2018

Bibliographical note

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mellor, D. D., Amund, D. , Georgousopoulou, E. and Naumovski, N. (2018), Sugar and cocoa: sweet synergy or bitter antagonisms. Formulating cocoa and chocolate products for health: a narrative review. Int J Food Sci Technol, 53: 33-42, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.13651.  This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.

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