When it comes to exercise, the workout is only part of the story.
Once you put the weights down, finish the run or step off the bike, your body gets to work. Energy stores need replenishing, muscles begin repairing, and your body responds to the physical stress you've just placed it under.
This is exercise recovery, the process of restoring, repairing and adapting after exercise.
Sleep, hydration and good nutrition still do most of the heavy lifting. Researchers have also been looking at how various foods and nutrients interact with parts of this process, including compounds naturally found in cacao.
Naturally containing compounds such as flavanols, including epicatechin, as well as minerals such as magnesium, cacao has an interesting nutritional profile. Cocoa flavanols in particular have attracted research interest in the context of exercise and oxidative stress.
Here's what the research to date actually shows.
Cocoa Flavanols and Oxidative Stress
A systematic review of 13 human studies found that acute, sub-chronic and chronic cocoa-flavanol intake reduced exercise-induced oxidative stress. (1)
Oxidative stress is one part of how the body responds to exercise, but reducing it is a different question from improving muscle recovery, and current evidence on muscle function and soreness remains inconsistent. (2)
Epicatechin, Nitric Oxide and Vascular Function
(-)-Epicatechin is a naturally occurring flavanol found in cocoa. Human research has found that consuming flavanol-rich cocoa can influence the nitric oxide system and vascular function. (3, 4)
In one study, flavanol-rich cocoa increased circulating nitric oxide species and improved flow-mediated dilation, a measure of vascular function. Researchers also found that administering (-)-epicatechin reproduced vascular responses observed following flavanol-rich cocoa, suggesting that (-)-epicatechin plays an important role in these effects. (3)
A separate controlled human study found that consuming flavanol-rich cocoa produced significant vasodilation through activation of the nitric oxide system. When nitric oxide production was experimentally inhibited, the vascular effect was reversed. (4)
Magnesium and Normal Muscle Function
Cocoa beans naturally contain magnesium, an essential mineral involved in energy metabolism and normal muscle function. (5, 6) Magnesium plays a role in muscle contraction and relaxation, and in the body's production and use of cellular energy. (5)
It's worth noting that these are general functions of magnesium in the body. The studies here look at magnesium broadly, not at the amount found in a typical serving of cacao specifically. (5, 6)
One More Thing Worth Understanding
"Cacao" and "cocoa" aren't always the same thing in practice. Many of the studies discussed above use flavanol-rich cocoa drinks, powders or extracts, and processing can influence the flavanol content of cocoa products.
Alkalisation, also known as Dutch processing, is particularly relevant. Research has shown that alkalisation can substantially reduce cocoa flavanol content, with greater alkalisation generally associated with greater losses. (7)
This is useful context when interpreting the research, but it doesn't mean that the flavanol content or effects observed in these studies can be assumed to apply to any particular cacao product.
Conclusion
So, where does this leave cacao and exercise recovery?
The research shows some genuinely consistent findings: cocoa flavanols have been shown to reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress and, separately, to influence vascular function through the nitric oxide system.
What the research does not yet show is that cocoa flavanols directly improve muscle recovery, reduce soreness, or enhance performance. The scientists closest to this work describe the evidence here as inconsistent and say more research is needed before drawing firm conclusions, and we think that's the honest place to leave it too.
*This article summarises independent, peer-reviewed research for general interest and does not constitute a health claim about our products. It isn't medical or nutrition advice, if you have specific health goals or conditions, talk to a qualified practitioner.
REFERENCES
1. Cocoa Flavanol Supplementation and Exercise: A Systematic Review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29299877
2. The effects of cocoa flavanols on indices of muscle recovery and exercise performance: a narrative review
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8364049
3. Epicatechin mediates beneficial effects of flavanol-rich cocoa on vascular function in humans.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16418281
4. Flavanol-rich cocoa induces nitric-oxide-dependent vasodilation in healthy humans.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14654748
5. Can Magnesium Enhance Exercise Performance?
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5622706
6. Mineral essential elements for nutrition in different chocolate products https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27346251
7. Impact of alkalization on the antioxidant and flavanol content of commercial cocoa powders