U.S. Chocolate Council Research Briefs

摘要

Abstract: There is substantial interest in chocolate and flavan-3-ols for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The objective was to systematically review the effects of chocolate, cocoa and flavan-3-ols on major CVD risk factors. We searched Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of chocolate, cocoa or flavan-3-ols. We contacted authors for additional data and conducted duplicate assessment of study inclusion, data extraction, validity and random-effects meta-analyses. We included 42 acute or short-term chronic (≤18 wk) RCTs that comprised 1,297 participants.