NCT01924481

Effects of a Cocoa Shot on the Human Brain

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 6 (actual)
• Sponsor: Wake Forest University Health Sciences · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 38 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The Hershey Company is interested in investigating the effects of various chocolate beverages on brain physiology and cognitive function. The main substances in the drinks that are known to influence the brain are caffeine (and related chemicals such as theobromine) and flavonoids. Flavonoids are chemical found in plants and are most commonly associated with antioxidant activity. Caffeine, chemicals related to caffeine, and flavonoids are all naturally occurring and all potentially alter brain physiology. This study will evaluate changes in brain blood flow and cognition following the consumption of drinks with various combinations of the Primary Ingredients. Caffeine is likely to have peak effects within 1-hour of ingesting the chocolate while the flavonoids are likely to have peak effects 3-4 hours after ingestion. The study proposed here will evaluate ingredients in a 4-arm cross-over double-blind design in an attempt to understand the differential effects of these compounds in chocolate drinks.

Conditions

• Caffeine
• Flavonoids

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	High Caffeine
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Low caffeine
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	High theobromine
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	low theobromine
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	No theobromine

Timeline

• Start date: 2013-09-01
• Primary completion: 2013-10-01
• Completion: 2013-10-01
• First posted: 2013-08-16
• Last updated: 2018-07-18

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States