Overview
- King’s College London researchers reported that people with higher circulating theobromine had lower biological ages in two European cohorts.
- Biological age was estimated from blood-based DNA methylation clocks and methylation-derived telomere length measures.
- The association appeared specific to theobromine after tests of other cocoa and coffee metabolites showed no similar links.
- The study was observational and cross-sectional, so confounding may exist, and the authors advise against eating more dark chocolate given sugar and fat content.
- The findings were published December 10 in Aging, and the team says more research will probe mechanisms and evaluate whether the link is causal.