Objective:

to determine the effect of cocoa consumption in patients with metabolic syndrome.

Design:

a randomized, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, prospective, double-masked clinical trial was conducted.

Patients:

people between 18 and 70 years of age, non-diabetic, with insulin resistance.

Intervention:

the effect of consumption of 50 g of chocolate rich in polyphenols was evaluated for eight weeks. The control group received placebo.

Measurements:

at the beginning and at the end of the study, the HOMA-IR index, abdominal circumference, body mass index (BMI), blood glucose and lipid profile.

Results:

in the experimental group (n = 37) there was a reduction of HOMA IR (3.24 initial and 2.77 final, p = 0.02), reduction of body weight, on average 1.53 Kg (initial 86.3 Kg and final 84.8 Kg, p = 0.002), decreased BMI (34.3 at baseline and 33.5 at end, p = 0.0001) and decreased abdominal waist (initial 106.3 cm and final 102.5 cm, p = 0.0001). When comparing the results of the group treated with black chocolate with those of the control group (n = 38), there was a statistically significant difference in the mean abdominal waist at the end between both groups (102.5 cm for the experimental group and 108.0 cm for the control, p = 0.01).

Conclusions:

This study suggests that consumption of 50 grams of chocolate rich in cocoa solids daily for eight weeks is associated with a decrease in waist circumference and the HOMA-IR index. In addition, it provides evidence of higher quality than observational studies on the use of cocoa in the reduction of obesity, adiposity and in the prevention of cardiometabolic disease in Colombian patients. (Acta Med Colomb 2017: 42: 90-96).

Register in Clinical Trials: NCT03034291