Flavanol-Rich Cocoa Supplementation Inhibits Mitochondrial Biogenesis Triggered by Exercise

Abstract

Los efectos potenciales de la suplementación con caco en deportista no están claros. En nuestra investigación, evaluamos los efectos de la ingesta diaria de caco en atletas de carrera a pie, los cuales, estaban sometidos a un programa de entrenamiento. Los resultados mostraron que administar diariamiente cacao afecta negativamente a los procesos de adaptación propios del entrenamiento al frenar la oxidación, lo cual, lleva a inhibir la biogénesis mitondrial. A pesar de que esto debería afectar a la capacidad aeróbica de los ateltas, parece que su rendimiento no se vio alterado. Por último, la administración de cacao disminuyó los marcadores de daño muscular (IL-6), lo que podría protegernos del daño muscular.

The potential role of cocoa supplementation in an exercise context remains unclear. Wedescribe the effects of flavanol-rich cocoa supplementation during training on exercise performanceand mitochondrial biogenesis. Forty-two male endurance athletes at the beginning of the trainingseason received either 5 g of cocoa (425 mg of flavanols) or maltodextrin (control) daily for 10 weeks.Two different doses of cocoa (equivalent to 5 g and 15 g per day of cocoa for a 70 kg person) weretested in a mouse exercise training study. In the athletes, while both groups had improved exerciseperformance, the maximal aerobic speed increased only in the control group. A mitochondrial DNAanalysis revealed that the control group responded to training by increasing the mitochondrial loadwhereas the cocoa group showed no increase. Oxidative stress was lower in the cocoa group than inthe control group, together with lower interleukin-6 levels. In the muscle of mice receiving cocoa, wecorroborated an inhibition of mitochondrial biogenesis, which might be mediated by the decrease inthe expression of nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2. Our study shows that supplementationwith flavanol-rich cocoa during the training period inhibits mitochondrial biogenesis adaptationthrough the inhibition of reactive oxygen species generation without impacting exercise performance.