does it do anything - studies?
Its just dark chocolate right?
Not quite : )
(-)epi is found in dark chocholate, but you would never be able to eat enough to get the amount needed for athletic performance purposes (though it is generally healthy to eat "some" dark chocholate).
Proven Benefits of (-)epi:
1. Increased plasma antioxidant activity (decreased oxidative stress)
2. Brachial artery dilation
3. Fat oxidation
4. Reduction in LDL & Increase in HDL
5. Reduced blood pressure
6. Improved endothelial function
7. Myostatin inhibitor via increase in follistatin
8. Fatigue resisstance and enhanced oxidative capacity
9. Increased strength
While bio-availablity of (-)epi isn't horrible, it can be much improved upon. Ep1c Unleashed uses our PhytoFUSE tecnology, enhancing bio-availabilty by up to 200-600% vs other "standard" epi products.
Also take a look at the following:
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References:
The Journal of Physiology Volume 589, Issue 18, pages 4615–4631, September 2011
KH. Vascular action of cocoa flavanols in humans: the roots of the story. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol2006;47 Suppl 2:S99-102; discussion S119-21.
Buijsse B, Feskens EJ, Kok FJ, Kromhout D. Cocoa intake, blood pressure, and cardiovascular mortality: the
Zutphen Elderly Study. Arch Intern Med 2006;166:411-7.
Ding EL, Hutfless SM, Ding X, Girotra S. Chocolate and prevention of cardiovascular disease: a systematicreview. Nutr Metab (Lond) 2006;3:2.
Taubert D, Roesen R, Lehmann C, Jung N, Schomig E. Effects of low habitual cocoa intake on bloodpressure and bioactive nitric oxide: a randomized controlled trial. Jama 2007;298:49-60.
An increase in treadmill performance (50%) and reduced fatigue (30%) has been noted in mice at 15 days of supplementation
*J Physiol. 2011 Sep 15;589(Pt 18):4615-31. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2011.209924. Epub 2011 Jul 25.
And an increase in grip strength was seen in 7 days.
*J Nutr Biochem. 2014 Jan;25(1):91-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2013.09.007. Epub 2013 Oct 18.