Tickled pink as scientist chew over merits of ‘anti-ageing’ chocolate

It’s sweet tooth Nirvana as scientists announce the development of ‘anti-ageing’ chocolate which helps consumers look younger. And it is all due to the way researchers have applied antioxidants used to keep flamingoes pink, the London Independent reports.

Chocolate pieces Image by Rawdonfox / CC BY 2.0

The study by a Cambridge University-affiliated lab behind ‘Esthechoc’ boast that chocolate consumption can improve the skin’s physiology by bringing the skin biomarker of a 50 to 60-year old down to the level of a 20 to 30-year-old.

Flamingoes pink link to chocolate ingredient Image by Alex Roberts / CC BY 2.0

The results of clinical trials found that people who ate the chocolate every day for up to a month had less inflammation in their blood and more blood supply to skin tissue.  These affects were due to an increase in the level of antioxidants and increased blood circulation, preventing wrinkles. The Daily Telegraph reported that as a bar contains 38kcal, it is also suitable for diabetics.

Esthechoc though isn’t set to replace Dairy Milk bars any time soon in your local newsagents. It is very much a high-range product, with its audience described as “elegant, educated and affluent’ city-dwelling women in their 30s. They also hope to market to businessmen.

Esthechoc is also called Cambridge Beauty Chocolate, and is expected to be upmarket retailers in March – but the price tag, expected to be fairly hefty, has not yet been disclosed. The London Independent says that other academics are less convinced by the claimed powers of the chocolate. Professor of Metabolic Medicine at Glasgow University, Naveed Sattar, told the Telegraph that further clinical trials were required to prove such claims.