Dark Chocolate
Chocolates are displayed during a chocolate convention in Lima July 5, 2012. The five-day exhibition, which drew distributors from Latin America and chocolate sommeliers from Europe, featured organic dark chocolate candy bars, chocolate sushi and Machu Picchu and Lord of Sipan sculptures carved out of chocolate. Reuters/Mariana Bazo

There’s one more reason to reach for a bar of chocolate daily besides losing weight, improving memory and protecting the heart. The reason comes sports scientists who say it boosts athletic performance.

However, a newly released Kingston University London study specified it should be dark chocolate. The research was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, reports The Telegraph.

Rishikesh Kankesh Patel, a postgraduate research student and leader of the team, found dark chocolate’s benefits similar to beetroot juice which is rich in nitrates that are converted to nitric oxide in the body. It dilates blood vessels and reduces oxygen consumption, permitting the athlete to go further for longer.

Dark chocolate contains epicatechin, a type of flavanol found in the cacao bean which likewise boosts production of nitric oxide in the body.

Patel had nine amateur cyclist go through an initial fitness test to establish a baseline to compare results later. He asked one group to eat daily 40 grammes of dark chocolate to replace their normal snacks for a fortnight. The other groups had 40 grammes of white chocolate.

After a series of cycling exercise tests conducted at the campus’s Penrhyn Road, the team measured the bikers’ heart rates and oxygen consumption during moderate exercises and in time trials. The two groups then changed chocolate types for two weeks and the exercises were repeated.

The test results show that in a two-minute flat-out time trial, dark chocolate eaters used less oxygen when cycling at a moderate pace and they covered longer distance.

Kingston University Researcher
Patel made the study as part of his undergraduate sport science degree at Kingston University London. Kingston University London

Patel, who made the study as part of his undergraduate sport science degree at the university, would conduct more research for his doctoral thesis to discover the optimal flavanol level in dark chocolate. He notes the lack of consistency in flavanol levels in commercially available chocolate. The next step, once he has established the optimal flavanol level, is to compare its effects with beetroot juice.

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