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flavan-3-ols

flavan-3-ols

Best for

Lower your blood pressure

Promising early signal · 400–900 mg/day for 1–12 weeks · 4 studies , n=135

12 papers · 3 claims · 28 outcomes scored · 3 positive

Outcomes

What flavan-3-ols actually does, by outcome

Each row is one outcome with effect size, evidence base, the dose that worked in trials, and time to first effect. Magnitude tiers come from native-unit MCID where available, Cohen's d otherwise.

Outcome Effect Evidence Dose Weeks Rank
Lower your blood pressure Promising early signal
moderate 		4 RCTs n=135 400–900 mg 1–12 wk —
Build firmer, denser skin Faint early signal
small 		2 meta-analyses n=195 Meta-analyzed 320–600 mg 12 wk #4/8
Raise sunburn threshold Barely detectable
trivial 		2 meta-analyses n=241 Meta-analyzed 200–6000 mg 12 wk #2/2

Co-studied with

Supplements that share evidence with flavan-3-ols

Sources

  1. 1. Blood pressure and endothelial function in healthy, pregnant women after acute and daily consumption of flavanol-rich chocolate: a pilot, randomized controlled trial. (2013) ↑
  2. 2. Vasculoprotective Effects of Dietary Cocoa Flavanols in Patients on Hemodialysis: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial. (2016) ↑
  3. 3. Cocoa-flavanols enhance moderate-intensity pulmonary V ˙ O 2 kinetics but not exercise tolerance in sedentary middle-aged adults. (2021) ↑
  4. 4. Chocolate flavanols and skin photoprotection: a parallel, double-blind, randomized clinical trial. (2014) ↑
  5. 5. Effectiveness of dietary supplements for skin photoaging in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2025) ↑
  6. 6. Acute Effects of Cocoa Flavanols on Blood Pressure and Peripheral Vascular Reactivity in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Essential Hypertension. (2022) ↑
  7. 7. The acute effects of cocoa flavanols on temporal and spatial attention. (2018) ↑
  8. 8. Effects of short-term, high-dose cocoa-derived flavanol supplementation on gut microbiota composition: secondary findings from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. (2024) ↑
  9. 9. The effects of acute post exercise consumption of two cocoa-based beverages with varying flavanol content on indices of muscle recovery following downhill treadmill running. (2013) ↑
  10. 10. Dietary flavanols improve cerebral cortical oxygenation and cognition in healthy adults. (2020) ↑

Generated August 14, 2026

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