Cocoa flavanols improved test performance during cycling in a small trial
Healthy young men responded faster on a cognitive test during cycling after high-flavanol capsules than after low-flavanol capsules. This short experiment does not establish lasting effects or broader sports benefits.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
In this small trial, healthy young men had faster responses and better ability to suppress interfering information on a color-word test after high-flavanol capsules than after low-flavanol capsules. Differences appeared at rest and during cycling with a prolonged cognitive task. The findings concern immediate test performance, rather than demonstrated improvements in sporting outcomes.
This abstract-based result comes from a small, exclusively male sample and a single intake before a short laboratory protocol. It does not establish whether effects persist or apply to other populations.
What researchers found
Reaction time
During the 50-minute protocol, reported reaction times were 685 ± 111 ms after high-flavanol capsules versus 712 ± 122 ms after low-flavanol capsules; P < 0.05.
Each man tried both conditions
The crossover design compared participants under both capsule conditions. The task combined moderate-intensity cycling with a color-word test, allowing the researchers to examine reaction speed and resistance to interfering information during simultaneous physical and cognitive demands.
The outcome was task performance
The higher-flavanol condition also produced better interference scores during the protocol. These scores describe performance on the study's cognitive task; the abstract does not report improved race times, exercise endurance or everyday concentration.
The original publication
A single intake of flavanol-rich cocoa improves inhibitory executive process under cognitive fatigue during aerobic exercise in men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial.
Tsukamoto H, Yoneya S, Koyama T et al.
Psychopharmacology (Berl) · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40493074
- Record checked
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