As the pandemic progresses, mental health rises to become one of the hottest topics in the nutraceutical sector. Not only are customers ready to reach the post-pandemic body, but action to face one’s health and wellbeing are becoming more and more holistic, focusing on cognitive health and mood – boosters.
None of the less, one of the Top Ten Trends for 2021 identified by Innova Market Insights is exactly “Mood: The Next Occasion”. The market research reports that 44 percent of global consumers have taken action to improve their mental and emotional well-being. Moreover, Mood was one of the topics taking center stage at the Vitafoods Virtual Expo.
In this space, Sochim International S.p.A. is proud to introduce one of its references, coming from Bioriginal: CocoaNol®. CocoaNol® is a cocoa bean extract made through a proprietary extraction technique, it is standardized to 20% flavanols. This delivery system allows dietary supplement, food, and beverage companies to drive new product innovation.
In the popular imaginary, cocoa-derived products, like chocolate, represent a panacea for mood and stress-relief. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like a piece of chocolate every now and then?
A few recent studies tried out the effect of cocoa-derived and cocoa-rich products on mood, mental stress, cognitive performance and cortical oxygenation with outstanding results. Two that are worth mentioning are as recent as 2021.
Firstly, we find a systematic review and meta-analysis conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines to investigate the effect of cocoa-derived food on depressive and anxiety symptoms, published on the Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. The findings suggest that the consumption of cocoa-rich products improves affect and mood in the short term (Laura Fusar-Poli, Alberto Gabbiadini, Alessia Ciancio, Lucia Vozza, Maria Salvina Signorelli & Eugenio Aguglia, 2021, The effect of cocoa-rich products on depression, anxiety, and mood: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2021.1920570).
The second study to take into consideration tested how cocoa flavanols improve vascular responses to acute mental stress in young healthy adults. The results were significant: flavanols are effective at counteracting mental stress-induced endothelial dysfunction and improving peripheral blood flow during stress. These findings suggest the use of flavanol-rich dietary strategies to protect vascular health during stress (Baynham R, Veldhuijzen van Zanten JJCS, Johns PW, Pham QS, Rendeiro C, 2021, Cocoa flavanols improve vascular responses to acute mental stress in young healthy adults, Nutrients. 2021 Mar 27. 134).
Being Mood the new trend to face, CocoaNol® could be the answer to the markets’ needs. In addition to that, it boasts many other advantages: it maintains much of the cocoa bean’s natural antioxidant content; it promotes high levels of epicatechin; its gluten-free and sugar-free; it contains no GMOs and it comes from sustainable origins; it also helps maintain cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Sochim International is a proud partner of Bioriginal and distributor of CocoaNol®.
Please, feel free to contact sochim@sochim.it for further information.