How many cocoa polyphenols do we need?
The amount of polyphenol-containing cocoa used to make dark chocolate bars varies widely, making it difficult to obtain a consistent polyphenol dose from commercial candy products. The major problem with typical chocolate candy bars, however, is that they contain hundreds of fat and sugar calories. Intentionally adding chocolate candy to a diet already too high in calories could create as many health problems as the cocoa polyphenols help prevent. Remember, the studies documenting the remarkable benefits of chocolate-cocoa polyphenols were relatively short term, and often used polyphenol standardized products rather than commercial, sugar-laden chocolate bars. The encouraging news is that there are now cocoa standardized polyphenol products that are free of sugar and excess fat. Low-cost cocoa polyphenol-standardized supplements are also available. Since Life Extension members already consume a lot of plant polyphenols (from pomegranate, green tea, blueberry, etc.), their minimum recom
