Systems biology approaches are providing novel insights into the role of nutrition for the management of health and disease. In the present study, we investigated if dietary preference for dar
k chocolate in healthy subjects may lead to different metabolic response to daily chocolate consumption. Using NMR- and MS-based metabolic profiling of blood plasma and urine, we monitored the metabolic response of 10 participants stratified as chocolate desiring and eating regularly dar
k chocolate (CD) and 10 participants stratified as chocolate indifferent and eating rarely dar
k chocolate (CI) to a daily consumption of 50 g of dar
k chocolate as part of a standardized diet over a one wee
k period. We demonstrated that preference for chocolate leads to different metabolic response to chocolate consumption. Daily inta
ke of dar
k chocolate significantly increased HDL cholesterol by 6% and decreased polyunsaturated acyl ether phospholipids. Dar
k chocolate inta
ke could also induce an improvement in the metabolism of long chain fatty acid, as noted by a compositional change in plasma fatty acyl carnitines. Moreover, a relationship between regular long-term dietary exposure to a small amount of dar
k chocolate, gut microbiota, and phenolics was highlighted, providing novel insights into biological processes associated with cocoa bioactives.
Keywords:
k+chocolate&qsSearchArea=searchText">dark chocolate; metabonomics; chemometrics; mass spectrometry; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; polyphenols