A diet rich in cocoa flavonoids could boost one’s antioxidant defenses, particularly in the thymus, suggests a new Spanish study on rats.

Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, lead author Emma Ramiro-Puig and co-workers from the University of Barcelona report that feeding young Wistar rats cocoa-enriched diets resulted in increased activity of the body’s antioxidant enzyme defenses.

The health benefits of antioxidant-rich chocolate have received much recognition in recent years, with positive findings from a number of studies impacting on consumer awareness. Chocolate manufacturers are using high cocoa content (over 70 per cent) as a means of differentiation, and cocoa has also received attention for its potential in functional food applications.

The researchers fed the rats a diet enriched with natural cocoa (four and 10 per cent) for three weeks and then measured antioxidant capacity of the plasma and tissues, including the liver and lymphoid organs.

They report that feeding on the cocoa-enriched diet led to significant increases in the total antioxidant capacity in all the body tissues, particularly in the thymus – the organ situated in the upper part of the chest and responsible for the production of certain hormones that stimulate cells used in an immune response.

A dose-dependent increase in the thymus activties of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase, with respect to cocoa supplementation, said the researchers.

Posted: 09|10|07 at 12:39 pm. Filed under: News.