A study published in Aging by researchers at King’s College London found a link between cocoa theobromine and slower biological aging.
Researchers measured theobromine levels in the blood of more than 1,600 participants from two European cohorts, including Twin Suk and KORA, and compared them with indicators of biological age based on DNA methylation and telomere length. Individuals with high theobromine levels tended to be biologically younger than their chronological age.
Professor Jordana Bell, senior author, said: “Our research finds a link between a key ingredient in dark chocolate and staying younger.” Theobromine was the only cocoa compound to show this association, highlighting its potential role in influencing gene activity and cellular systems associated with aging.
Although the findings are promising, researchers caution that eating dark chocolate is not a guaranteed anti-aging strategy because chocolate also contains sugar and fat.
Source: King’s College London
This article can be found in Journal of Wellbeing 222
