The decrease in body fat percentage improves exercise performance, reducing race time. The intake of cocoa improves the body fat composition in obese and diabetic people by improving their cardiovascular disease risk factors. Although epidemiological studies indicate that healthy subjects who consume cocoa have lower body fat composition, there is no study indicating whether cocoa improves fat composition in athletes. The aim of the study was to determine if the intake of cocoa rich in flavonoids improves the fat composition of athletes, modifying the systemic levels of adipokines (folistatin, myostatin and leptin), resulting in an improvement of physical performance.

The objective of this project was to investigate the effects of chronic daily consumption of high in flavanols cocoa in body composition and performance of endurance athletes: A randomized, blinded, parallel placebo controlled intervention study was carried out in endurance athletes . The number of male athletes enrolled in the study was 40, with ages between 18 and 50 years and an aerobic power consumption of oxygen greater than or equal to 55 mL / kg / min). The intervention was carried out for 10 weeks. Cocoa or placebo (maltodextrin) were supplied in sachets of a single daily dose. Cocoa provided 425 mg of flavanols/ day. Athlete's body composition was evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Exercise performance was evaluated with a treadmill test protocol determining the maximum aerobic capacity and also by determining the time necessary to run a kilometer at maximum speed. Adipokines (follistatin, myostatin and leptin) in plasma and serum samples were determined by ELISA. Diet was determined by three 24h-recall questionnaries and a Food Frecuency questionnaire.