FlavaNaturals

Description

We know what you’re thinking, what’s a yummy product like chocolate doing in our Marketplace section? Well it turns out that high levels of cocoa flavanols found in dark chocolate and cocoa powder offer several health benefits, including improved circulation. FlavaNaturals is a great resource for dark chocolate that is high in cocoa flavanols with the taste of gourmet heaven!

When we first started studying the health benefits of cocoa flavanols, we found there were clinical studies showing improved cognition and heart health, and that most experts attribute these benefits to improved blood flow (cocoa flavanols support circulation by boosting artery dilation and elasticity). Next we discovered scientific evidence that cocoa flavanols can help bolster your mood and reduce stress, a key trigger for Raynaud’s attacks. Have to admit a chocolate bar a day would definitely be a great pick me up! Rather than spend a lot of time here on the science behind how cocoa flavanols work, check out our article titled Can Cocoa Flavanols Help Frosties? from an earlier blog post.

OK, but can chocolate really help Frosties? To date, there haven’t been clinical trials to address this question, but we were curious to give it a try. We worked with FlavaNaturals to recruit 35 people with Raynaud’s and had them try FlavaMix cocoa powder with 900mg of cocoa flavanols daily for a month. It’s not a huge sample, and it was only an observational study (no control group), but the results were promising: 40% stated they experienced a benefit in terms of either fewer or less severe attacks, less pain in their extremities and/or were better able to tolerate the cold. We’ve conducted similar tests with two other drinkable powder-based products containing L’Arginine, an amino acid known to help boost circulation in its topical form. Neither of these tests produced the kind of positive feedback we received from the cocoa flavanol study group.

But before you start stocking up on Hershey bars, know that cocoa flavanol levels consumed in successful clinical studies generally range between 500mg and 1,000mg per day.  That’s five times more than you’ll find in a standard bar of dark chocolate or a serving of cocoa powder, and don’t even think about comparing it to milk chocolate with even less, or white chocolate that has none at all!

That’s why it’s important to know your chocolate source. It turns out that flavanols levels vary substantially from bean to bean and can be mostly destroyed by conventional chocolate processing. FlavaNaturals has developed proprietary methods of bean sourcing, harvesting, fermentation, roasting and handling. The company searches the world to find the most premium high flavanol beans, partners with farmers to assure selection of only the best and freshest beans, and uses precise controls in the fermentation and roasting processes to maximize both cocoa flavanols and rich chocolate flavor.