Cocoa Flavanols , Post-Workout Recovery: High Flavanol Cocoa

By now, we’ve discussed many of the ways regular intake of high flavanol cocoa can lead to prolonged disease prevention and reduced risk across several areas. From cardiovascular risk to diabetes risk to neurodegenerative risk and even blood pressure, decades of research has shown consumption of high flavanol cocoa to be strongly linked to a myriad of health benefits. What hasn’t been touched on, however, is another important health goal that high flavanol cocoa can help you reach. By aiding in blood flow, artery expansion, cardiovascular capacity, and even potentially muscle recovery itself, high flavanol cocoa can be greatly effective in strengthening your post-workout.

Many sites will tout certain snacks and superfoods as essential parts of a post-workout routine, but high flavanol cocoa is unique as the powerful antioxidants it contains work to assist several of the mechanisms our bodies use to recover after physical exertion. Improved blood flow, reduced oxidative stress, and nitric oxide production and preservation are just some of the ways that, along with its strong anti-inflammatory properties, cocoa flavanols make for a great post-workout dietary option. Read on to learn more:

Table of contents

High Flavanol Cocoa and Blood Flow High Flavanol Cocoa and Cardiovascular Capacity High Flavanol Cocoa and Muscle Recovery When to Take High Flavanol Cocoa Sources About the Author

High Flavanol Cocoa and Blood Flow

One of the more obvious ways high flavanol cocoa can drastically improve your post-workout while also being greatly beneficial to your health across the board is through assisting with blood flow. As a potent source of antioxidants, high flavanol cocoa also serves as a powerful vasodilator, allowing your blood vessels to better respond to increased use during exercise. Specifically, cocoa flavanols can help enhance what is called flow-mediated dilation or FMD, meaning that blood vessels will be more easily able to expand or contract depending on when increased blood flow becomes necessary.

In their 2017 review of prior research into high flavanol cocoa’s effect on circulation and flow-mediated dilation, researchers Valeria Ludovici et al. found that both were significantly improved over trial periods ranging from just a couple hours to a month or more. This ranged from healthy subjects to those facing one or more existing risk factors as well, suggesting that while flavanol-boosted circulation and FMD is beneficial across the board, it can certainly assist those trying to simply use it for workout recovery as well.

Key Takeaways:

High flavanol cocoa’s antioxidant properties can help blood vessels dilate
High flavanol cocoa can help blood vessels respond to increased flow
These effects can present even in people with pre-existing risk factors

High Flavanol Cocoa and Cardiovascular Capacity

Cardiovascular capacity, or the ability for oxygen to be delivered to the muscles via the heart and lungs during and after exertion, is another crucial area to consider when building your post-workout routine. As it turns out, high flavanol cocoa can be quite helpful here as well, with multiple of its more well-known and general health benefits being much of the reason why. With the positive effects on blood pressure and endothelial (blood vessel lining) function high flavanol cocoa provides, oxygen can be carried throughout the body much more easily and efficiently.

The studies in this area are very promising, with one 2023 trial on healthy elderly subjects confirming a correlation between intake of cocoa flavanols and an increased peak VO₂, or amount of oxygen available for use during exercise. Other studies support related benefits in younger adults as well, such as flow-mediated dilation and blood pressure among others, all of which are known to support oxygen transport from the heart and lungs through the blood and to the muscles. High flavanol cocoa, then, not only assists with our exercise capacity in our peak years, but continues to do so as we age as well.

Key Takeaways:

High flavanol cocoa can reduce blood pressure and regulate the endothelium
High flavanol cocoa can help oxygen be carried throughout the body
These effects can present strongly in adults of all ages

High Flavanol Cocoa and Muscle Recovery

Another potential effect of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of cocoa flavanols has to do with muscle recovery, as oxidative stress on the muscles leads directly to damage to their proteins and lipids, and eventually prolonged fatigue or weakness. Muscle recovery is obviously a vital part of any post-workout regimen for exactly this reason, and while your protein options are going to be very important here, antioxidant-rich foods like high flavanol cocoa are ones you should certainly be thinking about as well.

While research is not yet perfectly conclusive with respect to the role of flavanols specifically in muscle recovery, trials performed on athletically-inclined subjects like the 2018 study on elite football-players suggests a positive correlation between cocoa and muscular damage modulation. This could once again be due to its antioxidant properties, but important to remember is the source of healthy fats minimally-processed, high-flavanol cocoa provides as well. Healthy fats like those present in cocoa butter are very important in areas like tissue repair, a critical aspect of post-workout muscle recovery.

Key Takeaways:

High flavanol cocoa can help reduce oxidative stress on muscles
High flavanol cocoa can be a source of healthy fats for tissue repair
Research supports positive effects of flavanols on high-performance athletes

When to Take High Flavanol Cocoa to Maximize Post-Workout Benefits

After learning about the most important and studied benefits of high flavanol cocoa as it relates to your exercise and post-workout recovery, the question of when to consume it to maximize these benefits can prove just as vital.

In general, many studies have found that high flavanol cocoa’s most strongly-supported effects present better when taken regularly rather than sporadically or as a single dose, so it may take some time once you’ve added it to your routine to see significant results. In addition to this, however, the time flavanols are known to take to absorb in the body after consumption suggests that taking high flavanol cocoa quite soon after exercise would best maximize the benefits related to early recovery.

Key Takeaways: