How Healthy Is It to Fortify Cocoa-Based Products with Cocoa Flavanols? A Comprehensive Review Palma Morales, Marta Melgar-Locatelli, Sonia Castilla Ortega, Estela Cocoa Flavanols Fortified Human health Cardiovascular health Cognitive function Antioxidant activity Background: Cocoa’s healthy benefits may be attributed to the potent antioxidant activity of cocoa polyphenols, mainly flavanols, which have been characterised as existing in a high concentration in cocoa. However, the phenolic composition of cocoa and cocoa-derived products is highly variable, and manufacturing processes might significantly reduce their phenolic content. For that reason, the full characterisation of cocoa and cocoa-derived products before evaluating their bioactivity is crucial. The aim of this review is to analyse the available evidence on the effect of flavanol-fortified cocoa-derived products on human health. (2) Methods: Forty-eight clinical trials focused on the health effect of consuming flavanol-fortified drinks, bars and chocolate have been reviewed, with a total of 1523 subjects. (3) Results: Although studies differ widely in methodology, dosage, duration, and target population, beneficial effects of flavanol-rich cocoa consumption have been observed at doses ranging from 45.3 mg/d to 1078 mg/d, especially on cardiovascular health and cognitive function. (4) Conclusions: Considering the high consumption and acceptability of cocoa and cocoa-derived products, the fortification of cocoa products as well as other highly consumed foods with cocoa flavanols could be an effective strategy for health promotion 2023-09-22T08:29:57Z 2023-09-22T08:29:57Z 2023-07-03 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Palma-Morales, M.; Melgar-Locatelli, S.; Castilla-Ortega, E.; Rodríguez-Pérez, C. How Healthy Is It to Fortify Cocoa-Based Products with Cocoa Flavanols? A Comprehensive Review. Antioxidants 2023, 12, 1376. [https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox12071376] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/84578 10.3390/antiox12071376 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 4.0 Internacional MDPI