Cacao flavanols – what are they, really?
Cacao is much more than taste, aroma and the dark colour we recognise. The cacao bean also contains a range of natural plant compounds. One group that has drawn particular interest in research is cacao flavanols.
The name may sound technical, but the basic idea is simple: flavanols occur naturally in the cacao bean. They're part of cacao's original composition, and how the bean is treated on its way from harvest to finished product affects how much remains.
That's also why cacao flavanols are an area of interest for us at Espresso-XOC. We want to understand what's actually naturally present in cacao — and explain it in a way that's easy to grasp, without making bigger promises than the research supports.
What are flavanols?
Flavanols are natural plant compounds belonging to the larger group known as polyphenols. They occur in several plants and foods, including tea, apples and cacao.
The cacao bean contains flavanols such as epicatechin and catechin, along with larger compounds called procyanidins.
You don't need to remember the chemical names. It's enough to see the relationship roughly like this:
- Polyphenols
- → flavonoids
- Flavonoids
- → flavanols
- Flavanols
- → including epicatechin, catechin and procyanidins
It also helps to understand why the words polyphenols, antioxidants and flavanols sometimes get mixed up. They're related, but don't quite mean the same thing.
On this page we therefore keep the focus on flavanols. We cover the broader antioxidant and polyphenol question on our separate page Antioxidants in cacao.
Flavanols occur naturally in the cacao bean
When a cacao pod is harvested, the flavanols are already there, naturally present in the bean. But the bean changes on its way from fruit to finished cacao.
Fermentation, drying and roasting develop the flavours and aromas we associate with cacao. At the same time, these steps also affect cacao's natural composition. Research shows that both the amount and profile of polyphenols and flavanols can change during processing.
That means two products that both say "100% cacao" on the label can still differ in flavanol content.
100% cacao tells you what the product is made of. It doesn't automatically tell you how many flavanols remain in the finished product.
Why does processing matter so much?
Cacao needs to be processed. That's how the flavour develops and the raw material becomes the cacao we recognise.
But different processes affect cacao in different ways. One treatment that's particularly relevant when discussing flavanols is alkalisation, sometimes called Dutch processing.
Alkalisation is used, among other things, to make cacao darker, milder and less acidic. That can be desirable for certain products, but the treatment also affects cacao's natural plant compounds.
Studies of cacao products show that alkalised cacao can generally contain significantly fewer flavanols than natural, non-alkalised cacao. The more intense the treatment, the greater the reduction seen in several analyses.
That doesn't mean all non-alkalised cacao is automatically flavanol-rich. The raw material, fermentation, roasting and other steps also play a role.
But the key principle is clear:
How cacao is treated affects how many of its natural flavanols remain.
Espresso-XOC is not alkalised. For us, it's about keeping cacao as close to its natural whole as possible and avoiding treatments that aren't needed for the product we want to create.
Want to read more about the journey from cacao bean to finished product:
What happens to flavanols when we eat or drink cacao?
It's easy to assume that if a compound is present in food, the body simply absorbs it. In reality it's more complicated — and actually quite interesting.
When we eat or drink cacao flavanols, they're broken down and transformed in the body. Some smaller compounds and their breakdown products can be absorbed relatively early, while others pass on to the gut and are processed by the gut's microorganisms.
How much is absorbed and in what form depends, among other things, on which flavanol compound is involved, how the food is composed, and individual differences between people.
That's why we avoid simplified statements like "the more flavanols, the better". The body rarely works quite that simply.
What does research say about cacao flavanols?
Cacao flavanols are one of the areas of cacao research where there is relatively substantial human research.
The clearest scientific thread concerns blood vessel function and blood flow. Researchers have long studied how flavanol-rich cacao products affect blood vessels' ability to dilate and the biological mechanisms linked to normal vascular function.
A systematic review of randomised human studies from 2025 found that short-term flavanol interventions fairly consistently improved microvascular vasodilatory responses. Results from longer interventions were, however, less conclusive.
This is an important nuance. The research is interesting and there's a clear signal around vascular function, but that doesn't mean every cacao product automatically produces the same effect.
Research studies often use products or extracts with carefully controlled amounts of flavanols. That's different from saying that all chocolate, all cacao raw materials, or every cup of cacao works the same way.
What can we learn from COSMOS — one of the largest studies so far?
One of the most talked-about projects in the field is COSMOS, a large randomised study with more than 21,000 older adults in the US.
Participants received either a placebo or a standardised cacao extract providing 500 mg of cacao flavanols per day, including 80 mg of epicatechin. They were followed for several years.
The original analysis found no statistically confirmed reduction in the study's main composite cardiovascular outcome. It's important to state that clearly.
At the same time, research has continued. A new reanalysis published in 2026 used a statistical method that gives greater weight to more serious cardiovascular events and found a statistically significant benefit for the flavanol group.
That makes COSMOS even more interesting — but not proof that cacao prevents cardiovascular disease.
The study used a controlled extract with a set flavanol dose. The result can't automatically be translated to an ordinary cup of cacao.
For us, the most reasonable conclusion is this: research on cacao flavanols and vascular function is promising and serious, but it should be described with precision — not made bigger than it is.
Research also tells us what we shouldn't promise
Good science isn't only about positive results. It also helps us understand which claims don't yet have sufficient support.
A systematic review and meta-analysis from 2026 of 13 randomised studies in people with metabolic syndrome or related conditions found a small reduction in triglycerides, but no clear overall effects on, among other things, fasting glucose, insulin, HbA1c, blood pressure, body weight or waist circumference.
In another COSMOS sub-study with 958 older participants, researchers saw no significant effect of cacao extract on five different DNA methylation measures used to study biological ageing after two years of treatment.
That's why at Espresso-XOC we don't use messaging claiming that cacao flavanols "balance blood sugar", "boost metabolism", "help you lose weight" or "slow ageing".
It may sound less spectacular. But we think it's more interesting to tell you what the research actually shows.
The EU has approved a specific health claim about cacao flavanols
Cacao flavanols are unusual in one important way: there is an EU-approved health claim linked to them.
The approved wording concerns cacao flavanols helping to maintain the elasticity of blood vessels, which contributes to normal blood flow.
But here's the important part: the EU has set clear conditions for when the claim may be used.
The beneficial effect is linked to a daily intake of 200 mg of cacao flavanols, and for the cacao and chocolate products covered, flavanols with a degree of polymerisation of DP1–10 are specified.EUR-Lex
So a product containing cacao — even 100% cacao — doesn't automatically mean it's entitled to use that health claim.
The product must actually meet the conditions.
We think that's an important distinction to be clear about.
What does 200 mg of cacao flavanols actually mean?
The figure 200 mg often comes up when reading about cacao flavanols, and it's easy to interpret it as some kind of general daily dose.
It isn't.
200 mg is the amount stated in the conditions for the EU-approved health claim. It doesn't mean everyone needs to consume 200 mg of flavanols every day, and it doesn't mean a given amount of cacao automatically equals 200 mg of flavanols.
Different cacao products can contain very different amounts of flavanols depending on the raw material and processing.
Two products can therefore both be 100% cacao but still differ clearly in flavanol content.
How do we view flavanols at Espresso-XOC?
Espresso-XOC is 100% cacao and is not alkalised.
Cacao's natural flavanols therefore remain as part of the raw material's natural composition. But we carefully distinguish between two things:
- that cacao naturally contains flavanols
- that a product meets the exact conditions for a specific EU-approved health claim.
Those are not the same thing.
We've carried out a preliminary analysis of the flavanol content in Espresso-XOC, but the analytical method and which flavanol fractions are counted are decisive when comparing a result with the EU's DP1–10 definition.
For that reason, we currently don't use the approved EU health claim about normal blood flow as a direct product-specific promise for Espresso-XOC.
We think the more interesting story right now is the honest one: pure, non-alkalised cacao contains natural cacao flavanols, and the research into them is one of the most exciting areas of modern cacao science.
Is more flavanols always better?
It's a natural question — but food is more than a single number.
Cacao flavanols are part of a much bigger whole. Cacao also contains fat, protein, fibre, minerals, theobromine, caffeine and many other natural compounds.
When researchers study flavanols, they isolate one particular question in order to understand it better. That doesn't mean a single compound explains everything interesting about cacao.
For Espresso-XOC, it's the whole cacao that is the starting point.
Flavanols are a fascinating part of that whole — but they don't need to carry the whole story on their own.
Are cacao flavanols the same as antioxidants?
Not quite.
Flavanols are a group of polyphenols. Many polyphenols can show antioxidant properties in chemical test systems, and that's why cacao has long been marketed as a food "rich in antioxidants".
But modern research is more nuanced than the old picture of antioxidants simply circulating in the body and "neutralising free radicals". When it comes to cacao flavanols, research into biological signalling, vascular function and nitric-oxide-related mechanisms is today at least as important. That's why we keep the subjects separate. On this page we focus on cacao flavanols. On our separate page we go deeper into what antioxidants and polyphenols actually mean: