Longevity Molecules V: Cocoa Flavanols - Part 2
Why cocoa flavanols may be one of the most powerful tools for women’s longevity
Prepared by Girish Harinath, Geroscientist at MYKIGAI
I want to start this post by taking a second to face a cold, hard reality. For all the progress we have made in regards to gender equality, there are still major health inequities to address.
Namely, most academic research, clinical studies, and health recommendations take a male-centric approach to promoting health and wellness.
This is as true in the longevity field as it is anywhere else. I will address the dire consequences of these inequities within this post. For example, women experience nearly 2x more adverse reactions to drugs than men. This isn’t due to a vastly different biology, it is due to a glaring “blind spot” in how we study, promote, and prescribe health and wellness. This is why addressing the female “health inequity gap” is a major focus at MYKIGAI. This is also why I am extremely excited about covering cocoa flavanols as the next tool in our Longevity Toolkit, due to their unique potential and promise for promoting female longevity. That’s not to say men do not benefit from cocoa flavanols (they do), but the impact it can have on women’s health is significantly more compelling and promising. In this post, we will discuss the science and data behind why dark chocolate may be a woman’s best friend. In the next post (next week), I will provide you with a protocol for integrating cocoa flavanols into your longevity toolkit.
Cocoa flavanols address several different hallmarks of aging that are notoriously associated with age-related diseases.
Two of the most powerful mechanisms include:
Addressing dysfunctional cell signalling within the circulatory system to improve blood flow.
Helping to resolve oxidative stress and its myriad of consequences within the cell.
Both of these aging mechanisms are critical factors that, if left unchecked, are major drivers of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Unsurprisingly, the majority of human clinical trials testing the effectiveness of cocoa flavanols are targeting individuals with these diseases. There are currently hundreds of scientific papers and several clinical trials on cocoa flavanols.
Extinguishing Oxidative Stress
One of the major drivers of chronic disease as we age is an increasing burden of oxidative stress – the accumulation of unstable metabolites (called “free radicals”) – that damage DNA, proteins, and cells. Oxidative stress is caused by “everyday” metabolic processes needed to sustain life (such as eating and breathing) as well as environmental factors like exposure to UV radiation, pollution, and pathogens. In other words, it’s unavoidable.
The good news is that our body is equipped with natural (endogenous) antioxidant systems that faithfully “detoxify” free radicals before they wreak too much havoc.
As we age:
We encounter more oxidative stress.
Our antioxidant systems begin to fail us.
So incorporating antioxidants into our daily diet should be a crucial part of our longevity strategy. Several foods are high in antioxidants including apples (with skin), artichokes, and blueberries. Dark chocolate, which is chock-full of cocoa flavanols, is one of the most powerful antioxidant foods.
Improving Vascular Health and Blood Flow
One of cocoa flavanols’ most prominent effects is promoting healthy blood vessel function and flexibility of your arteries. This helps your blood deliver the high levels of oxygen and nutrients your heart and brain need to perform at their best. Not only is this in terms of physical and mental performance, but also in terms of clearing out hallmarks of aging – effectively helping you age at your best.
It seems so trivial. How can maintaining healthy blood flow as you age have such a powerful effect on how you age? Consider this:
The vascular system and blood is the body’s major “super highway” that delivers oxygen and nutrients from the cells at the tips of your toes all the way up to your brain.
Healthy blood flow helps your organs and tissues communicate with one another and work together to “clear and repair the damages of aging.”
By addressing oxidative stress and vascular signalling, cocoa flavanols play a significant role in promoting both heart and brain health.
Cocoa flavanols can be a powerful tool against heart disease.
There are several lifestyle changes, supplements, and drugs that can be taken to protect heart health. Working from a preventative standpoint, consuming cocoa flavanols may be one of the most powerful interventions you can engage with – aside from aerobic exercise.
The COSMOS study (The Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study is an outstanding example of a rigorous scientific study that highlights the nuanced potential of cocoa flavanol supplementation. The COSMOS study followed 21,000 individuals (that were over 60 years old) for 5 years to evaluate their incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) when supplementing with 500 mg of a cocoa flavanol supplement each day. The majority of the participants were women. Although they did not find a significantly decreased incidence of CVD in placebo vs cocoa flavanol supplementation groups, they did find a striking 27% reduction in cardiovascular death. What this means is that although supplementing with cocoa flavanols isn’t likely to change the possibility of having a cardiovascular event, it may reduce event severity, leading to better outcomes and fewer deaths. This can be an absolute game changer for women since they have a higher risk of mortality once afflicted with CVD. Cocoa flavanols provide that much-needed resilience that can help with recovery and improved healthspan following a cardiovascular event.
It is clear now that the development of atherosclerosis (buildup of plaque within arteries that leads to CVD) is a product of the “presence of high levels of cholesterol (a particular type of LDL) in the bloodstream” + “chronic inflammation”. Remove either factor in this equation and you have yourself an impactful therapy. Regularly consuming cocoa flavanols target both sides of the equation. It decreases LDL cholesterol levels, increases HDL (“the good”) cholesterol levels, and suppresses key genes that drive chronic inflammation (i.e. TNF- alpha). Again, the observed effects are stronger in women.
Cocoa Flavanols can improve cognitive performance and keep your brain healthy
Supplementing with cocoa flavanols has been shown (in both mice and humans) to improve brain health and performance by improving problem-solving, memory, and decision making. These effects have been linked to cocoa flavanols’ ability to increase blood flow to the brain by stimulating nitric oxide release and causing vasodilation (expansion of blood vessels). One interesting clinical study found that cocoa flavanol supplementation 90 minutes before taking a test significantly boosted performance, especially when individuals were under high mental stress.
Alzheimer’s disease is very tightly linked to cardiovascular disease. So much so, that they are considered comorbidities – meaning developing one disease makes it much more likely you will develop the other. High intracranial (within the skull) blood pressure, reduced blood flow to the brain, and dysfunctional immune cell transport through the brain’s vascular system are all hallmarks of neurodegenerative disease. A landmark clinical study found that daily cocoa supplementation for several months improved cognitive function in elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment (the “precursor stage” to Alzheimer’s disease.)
Further, the CoCoA (Cocoa, Cognition, and Aging) study shows cocoa flavanols preserved and even reversed age-related memory decline in healthy older adults.
Cocoa flavanols are particularly powerful for promoting women’s longevity
There are several reasons for this, many of which I have covered above, let me summarize them for you just to be clear:
First and foremost, the studies I’ve discussed above heavily favor study participants that are female. This makes all these results particularly relevant for female health and longevity.
Women are at least 20% more likely to die from heart attacks than men. Cocoa flavanols specifically reduce the incidence of mortality from cardiovascular disease.
Women are 2x more vulnerable to developing Alzheimer’s disease than men. Cocoa flavanols are particularly effective at slowing down brain aging.
During perimenopause and menopause, women are particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress due to declining levels of estrogen. Cocoa flavanols are a powerful antioxidant.
We will address the following questions in next week’s protocol, so be sure to tune in to find out how you can fight heart and brain aging with this simple (and fun) longevity tool!
What is the best source of natural cocoa flavanols?
Dark chocolate! But the percent of cacao and how the chocolate is processed REALLY matters. Here is what you should look for to get the “quality stuff” that will improve your health . . .
Can you get enough cocoa flavanols from milk chocolate and white chocolate?
. . Yes, but here’s what you have to bewaryy of . . . (plus how you can use milk/white chocolate to improve your brain health)
Is it better to supplement or get cocoa flavanols from your diet?
It depends on your strategy and goals . . . Let’s talk brands, dosage, and regimen
Is incorporating cocoa flavanols into your “longevity stack” right for you?
This depends on your budget, your current longevity regimen, your genetic predisposition, and your current health status.
Consider this protocol very carefully if you have circulatory issues, a history of cardiovascular issues, smoke cigarettes, eat a standard American diet, are at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, and as the title suggests – if you are a woman! As always, contact me at geroscientist@mykigai.com if you have any questions or feedback!
In next week’s post, I will provide you with a protocol for integrating cocoa flavanols (both from your diet and/or supplements) into your longevity toolkit.