Advertisement

Scientists claim their chocolate has 'anti-aging' properties

This Hershey's bar, while delicious, does not have the same 'anti-aging' properties. (Reuters)
This Hershey's bar, while delicious, does not have the same 'anti-aging' properties. (Reuters)

Chocoholics, rejoice! Scientists are claiming to have developed the tastiest fountain of youth ever: “Anti-aging” chocolate.

Making its debut at a conference in the U.K. next month is what will be — if its claims are proven, of course — everyone’s newest favourite beauty secret: Esthechoc, or “Cambridge Beauty Chocolate.”

"(Esthechoc) is based on 70% cocoa dark chocolate and represents a combination of two of the most powerful antioxidants with pleotropic anti-aging properties – cocoa flavanols and marine carotenoid astaxanthin," claims Lycotec, a Cambridge-based company.

"The superior efficacy of Estechoc over existing leading dark chocolate and food supplement products has been demonstrated in extensive clinical trials.”

The company is making huge claims as to the new-age chocolate’s anti-aging properties: In clinical trials conducted on over 3,000 participants between the ages of 50 and 60, apparently the biomarkers of the participants’ skin were bought back to those of 20- and 30-year-olds, “thanks to a boost in the level of antioxidants and increased blood circulation, which prevents wrinkles,” the Independent reported.

Esthechoc CEO Ivan Petyaev, MD, told Vice’s Munchies blog that his studies were more concerned with improvements in “biochemical and metabolic parameters” than with visible changes, as “visibility is not scientific of medical parameter”:

“Although, most of our participants were reporting significant improvement of their skin—from velvety feeling and smoothness to better appearance.”

The company says it’s safe to consume one of its low-calorie bars a day — even for diabetic and dieting consumers, Tech Times reported. The chocolate will come in packs of 21 bars, designed to be eaten over three weeks.

According to Vice, Esthechoc will cost 35 Euros ($50 CAD) once it hits store shelves in Europe. No word yet on its North American availability.

So should Esthechoc be the new daily vitamin for the wrinkle-fearing crowd?

Perhaps. But we still need a little more convincing.

Not everyone’s buying these claims — and believe more independent clinical trials are needed to prove these rather impressive reported results.

“These food claims need to be backed up with trials to have any genuine credibility. Such trials are glaring by their absence, so all such health claims are unfounded,” Naveed Sattar, a professor of metabolic medicine at Glasgow University, told the Telegraph.  

“There is a potentially sound scientific base to this although it is obviously early days,” said UCL nutritionist Dr. George Grimble, adding that the addition of astaxanthin, which has known antioxidant effects, appears promising.

Still, more Grimble believes more trials are needed to prove the snack’s safety.

“Using dark chocolate is quite clever. As a nutritionist, I am generally in favour of dark chocolate. So it’s got a good track record in terms of the science but it is too early to say what the long term benefits might be,” he told the Telegraph.

"In my humble opinion, it would be necessary for the company’s in-house trial to be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal in order for their health claims to be substantiated."

Until anti-aging chocolate can prove itself as magical as we hope it is, we’re happy to stick with our traditional, without-scientific-interference dark chocolate. It’s good for the heart, right?

If Esthechoc hits shelves on this side of the pond, will you be giving the anti-aging chocolate a chance?