If ever there were ever a beverage you’d want medical scientists to recommend you drink to help curb the symptoms of a serious health condition, it’d be hot chocolate.
has revealed that regularly drinking hot chocolate, made with a high percentage of cocoa, could be a safe and easy way to reduce fatigue symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The results of this small trial, published online in The BMJ today, suggests that the flavonoids found in a cup of cocoa may produce an anti-inflammatory effect that reduces inflammation in the body, which causes fatigue in a person living with MS.
“A flavonoid beverage demonstrates the potential to improve fatigue and fatigability in relapsing and remitting multiple sclerosis,” the study reads.
A flavonoid is a group of organic compounds that occur as pigments in fruit and flowers. Regularly found in fruit and vegetables, as well as in cocoa beans from the cacao tree, .
Cocoa may help curb fatigue typically associated with multiple sclerosis. (Getty Images) Source: Cavan Images RF/Getty Images
The cocoa - fatigue trial
suggests that dark chocolate, containing between 70 and 85 per cent cocoa solids, is associated with an improvement in subjectively assessed fatigue in people with chronic fatigue syndrome. Meanwhile, it’s estimated that
So a team of researchers, led by , decided to investigate whether consuming cocoa could produce a positive impact on MS-related fatigue.
A trial was conducted involving 40 people aged between 34-54 years old who had been recently diagnosed with the relapsing remitting form of MS and fatigue.
They were required to drink either a high- or low-flavonoid cocoa every day for six weeks. The beverage was made using cocoa powder and mixed with heated rice milk. Participants also subjectively rated their fatigue on a scale four times a day.
Fatigue and fatigability – the speed with which mental and physical fatigue set in – were formally assessed before the results demonstrated a small improvement in fatigue and moderate effect on fatigability.
Those drinking the high flavonoid beverage showed a 45 per cent improvement in subjectively assessed fatigue and an 80 per cent improvement in walking speed.
“Flavonoids have been found to increase cerebral blood flow by inducing widespread stimulation of brain perfusion, and this could also influence mood, cognitive performance, fatigue perception and ability to perform specific movement tasks,” the study’s authors write.
Those drinking the high flavonoid beverage showed a 45 per cent improvement in subjectively assessed fatigue and an 80 per cent improvement in walking speed.
MS is complex and diverse
estimates that it affects over 25,600 in Australia and more than
According to the , MS is more common in geographical areas farthest from the equator. However, researchers do not know why, nor can they explain why prevalence rates vary differently among groups living in geographical areas with the same latitude. For example: MS is almost unheard of in some populations, like Australian Aboriginals and New Zealanders, Hungarian Romani and Norwegian Lapps.
MS is also a complex and diverse disorder that affects people differently. that those living with the illness can respond differently to treatments and interventions.
Although cocoa and its relationships with fatigue and MS have not been studied extensively, and larger-scale studies are needed to confirm the results, the research offerings some hope for people living with the condition.
“The use of dietary approaches to reduce fatigue and associated factors in people with MS may be an easy, safe and cost effective way to have an impact on quality of life and independence, allowing people to feel more in control of their condition,” the study reads.
The study’s authors also propose that given the possible anti-inflammatory mechanism, flavonoid-rich drinks are recommended alongside other treatments and therapies – like physiotherapy – to help manage fatigue.
In a linked editorial, Dr Paolo Ragonese, University of Palermo in Sicily, points out that the treatment and management of MS related fatigue “still represents a challenge…because its mechanisms are multifactorial.”
“Although [this] study is an exploratory trial, it adds further interesting suggestions to the possible positive effects of flavonoid intake on the management of fatigue in patients with MS,” he concludes.
