Mechanisms by which Cocoa Flavanols Improve Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders

Dietary administration of cocoa flavanols may be an effective complementary strategy for alleviation or prevention of metabolic syndrome, particularly glucose intolerance. The complex flavanol composition of cocoa provides the ability to interact with a variety of molecules, thus allowing numerous opportunities to ameliorate metabolic diseases. These interactions likely occur primarily in the gastrointestinal tract, where native cocoa flavanol concentration is high. Flavanols may antagonize digestive enzymes and glucose transporters, causing a reduction in glucose excursion, which helps patients with metabolic disorders maintain glucose homeostasis.

Source: The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry - January 23, 2016 Category: Biochemistry Authors: Karen M. Strat, Thomas J. Rowley, Andrew T. Smithson, Jeffery S. Tessem, Matthew W. Hulver, Dongmin Liu, Brenda M. Davy, Kevin P. Davy, Andrew P. Neilson Source Type: research