BOSTON, April 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FlavaNaturals performance chocolate, cocoa powder and beverages match and even exceed the cocoa flavanol levels used in Harvard’s groundbreaking, 21,400-person, five-year study showing a 27% reduction in cardiovascular deaths. Participants in Harvard’s COSMOS study were asked to consume 500mg of cocoa flavanols in the form of multiple pills per day, raising questions about how to consume an equally high amount of flavanols from chocolate. Dark chocolate FlavaBars alone deliver the same 500mg of flavanols per serving, the only chocolate bar on the market to do so.
“The compelling results from Harvard’s COSMOS study highlight the need for cocoa flavanol levels to be transparent on nutrition panels and food packaging,” says renowned nutrition and wellness expert Joy Bauer MS, RDN, CDN. “Currently, only cacao percentage is listed for consumers (and even then, only on occasion), but cacao concentration frequently does not correlate with cocoa flavanol levels, which seems to be the powerful differentiator.”
Harvard’s COSMOS study, published in March 2022 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that consuming 500mg of cocoa flavanols per day significantly reduced deaths from cardiovascular disease by 27% compared to placebo.i That percentage jumped to 39% among study participants taking their cocoa flavanol pills daily per the study protocol. The researchers also found a meaningful reduction in major cardiovascular events including heart attacks and strokes.
Traditional dark chocolate and cocoa have an average of only 100-150mg of cocoa flavanols per serving, so consuming levels found beneficial by Harvard requires several portions and many calories.
FlavaNaturals performance chocolate products deliver 500-900mg of cocoa flavanols with calorie counts as low as 35 per serving. “It comes down to bean selection and processing,” says Alan Frost, Founder of FlavaNaturals. “Cocoa beans can vary tenfold in cocoa flavanol levels and traditional chocolate processing destroys flavanols. Our secret is starting with some of the highest flavanol cocoa beans in the world, and processing them naturally and at lower temperatures to preserve the flavanols.”
FlavaNaturals dark chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder, mocha cold brew and chocolate oatmilk contain 5 to 9 times the cocoa flavanols of an average dark chocolate bar and are available at www.FlavaNaturals.com and Amazon.com.
About FlavaNaturals
FlavaNaturals is changing the way people consume and think about chocolate with delicious, performance chocolate products that deliver the cocoa flavanol portions found effective in clinical studies of cardiovascular performance, brain function, and metabolic health. The company’s flavanol-rich foods and beverages include: FlavaBar Dark Chocolate Bars (500mg of cocoa flavanols), FlavaMix performance cocoa powder (for smoothies, shakes and yogurt - 900mg of cocoa flavanols), and FlavaJava mocha cold brew and FlavaMilk chocolate oatmilk (each with 600mg of cocoa flavanols). To learn more, visit FlavaNaturals.com and follow @flavanaturals on Instagram and Facebook.
i Sesso, ScD, MPH, Howard D., Manson, MD, DrPH, JoAnn E. and Aragaki, MS, Aaron K. et al. for the COSMOS Research Group. Effect of Cocoa Flavanol Supplementation for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Events: The COSMOS Randomized Clinical Trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2022 March; PMID: 35294962.
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