High Flavanol Foods: Which Foods Have the Most Flavanols?

With more and more people looking toward dietary supplements and stabler alternatives to routines like morning coffee, foods like organic and raw high flavanol cacao have become increasingly popular. Their strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties would seem to make them the ideal candidate for those looking for an easy way to improve what they eat, and indeed the research bears this out. In the past couple decades of study, improved blood flow and blood pressure, reduced cardiovascular risk, and improved cognitive function especially in older adults are just some of the effects attributed to cacao’s high flavanol content.

This does beg the question, however: are dark chocolate and organic cacao the only strong or even the strongest dietary sources of flavanols? What other foods exist as a significant source, and what might the benefits of focusing on those foods be versus high flavanol cacao? Read on for a deeper look at the top high flavanol foods to see where cacao stacks up, and what your other options might be:

We have touched on what flavanols actually are many times before in our blog, but for a quick recap: flavanols are just one of a larger class of compounds found naturally in plants which are considered high in their antioxidant content. Many healthy foods will be strong sources of these compounds, but cocoa’s flavanols (specifically one called epicatechin) are special in that they are more bioavailable, or able to be efficiently absorbed and used by the human body, than others.

This is why, even among other foods that provide a significant source of flavanols, high flavanol cacao is uniquely studied for its effects. Not only does it contain a high amount of flavanols, but the kinds it contains are more able to be put to use by our bodies. It even contains other powerful antioxidant sources than just flavanols, giving it a distinct advantage outside of the raw numbers.

Key Takeaways:

• Flavanols are naturally-occurring plant compounds that provide many health benefits

• Cocoa-specific flavanols are easier for the human body to absorb and use

• Cocoa contains other advantages as well vs. other high flavanol foods

Perhaps unsurprisingly, minimally processed cacao and even dark chocolate win handily when talking purely about which foods contain the most flavanols per serving as well. With premium brands like Vital Purple offering products at up to 900mg, nothing else even comes particularly close. 

As we have discussed before, however, not all chocolate is created equal in this way. Commercial chocolate undergoes processes that sweeten the flavor for purposes like baking which have the side effect of destroying much of the flavanol and other nutrient content. Dark chocolate still beats everything else, with 70% and up cocoa landing anywhere from 136 to 440mg per serving according to ConsumerLab^[1], but with raw and minimally processed cacao potentially doubling that, it is the clear winner. Even regular dark chocolate with it's low flavanols compared to high flavanol cacao powder, has far higher cocoa flavanols than the other natural foods in the category. Now, when you're talking about extracted cocoa flavanols, it dwarfs other foods in this category. This is why high flavanol cocoa powder is an exploding niche! It's a miracle food, while also being tasty! And in addition, raw cacao like Vital Purple’s contains another significant flavonoid and antioxidant source in anthocyanins, which give it its natural purple color. 

Coming in after cacao and dark chocolate is green tea, which can be a decent source of flavanols as well all things considered. ConsumerLab finds a couple products with “shockingly little” (under 10mg) of its main flavanol source per serving, but most do better, landing in the range of 29 to 118mg^[2]. 

Capsule-based green tea supplements can increase this significantly with some containing up to 470mg, but once again, ConsumerLab finds this to be highly variable as some offering came in at as low as 40mg^[2].  Even in the best case, it does not quite hit the 500-1,000mg range many studies corroborate as the most beneficial amount for daily intake.

It's important to watch out for brands monitoring the polyphenols and flavanols for this ingredient because it does have potential. 

Apples are the next best food for flavanol content, though from here it is going to be significantly lower across the board, and well below the daily amounts studies have shown to be able to produce benefits. One study finds flavanol content ranging from roughly 20-60mg across fifteen different apple varieties^[3], though important to note is that these are far more concentrated in the skin than in the flesh.

Berries are another fruit noted for their flavanol content, with some types of edible wild berries reaching up to 263mg/kg (or about 40mg per serving). More commonly eaten and available types like blueberries and strawberries rank much lower than this, though cranberries do reach nearly half of that maximum amount^[4]. Blueberries specifically score a lot better when talking about anthocyanins, another powerful antioxidant source, but when talking just about flavanols they do rank low.

One final source of flavanols to touch on is red wine, which gets its content from the skin of the grapes used. Certain higher-end red wine varieties can be higher in flavanols than other fruits listed, but it ranks the lowest here due to how highly variable this can be. Depending on the type of grape, its exposure to sunlight during growth, and the winemaking techniques themselves, you may see some red wines with multiple times the flavanol content of others.

Key Takeaways:

• Minimally-processed cacao is by far the best source of dietary flavanols

• Dark chocolate and green tea rank solidly on flavanol content after cacao

• Fruits and wines contain flavanols as well, but in significantly lower amounts

Writer / Researcher: Trey Norbey

Sources:

1. https://www.consumerlab.com/answers/how-much-dark-chocolate-equals-a-tablespoon-of-cocoa-powder/dark-chocolate-cocoa-flavanols/ 

2. https://www.consumerlab.com/reviews/green-tea-review-tea-bags-matcha-supplements/green-tea/

3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5789330/#sec3-antioxidants-07-00020 

4. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jf9811065