Doesn’t that sound good?
Yes, too good to be true! Like many of the so-called health messages that hit the headlines on a regular basis, however, it is based on sound scientific work.
In this case, it was a study using exercising mice. Feeding them a substance called ‘epicatechin’, which is found in chocolate, resulted in the mice exercising for longer on a treadmill. Their bodies showed evidence of being better trained. That’s great, for mice…
It is possible, however not yet proven, that epicatechin will have the same effect in people. If you want to check it out, you’ll need to eat something like 200g of dark chocolate (a large bar) each day. Before you reach for the 90% cocoa, just be aware that you’ll be taking on board around 1100kcal with each bar!
This is just a cautionary tale – be wary of articles with attractive headlines in the popular press – things may not be all that they seem!