Effect of coffee and cocoa-based confectionery containing coffee on markers of cardiometabolic health: results from the pocket-4-life project

Daniela Martini,Margherita Dall’Asta,Furio Brighenti,Alice Rosi,Monica Antonini,Valentina Spigoni,Letizia Bresciani,Daniele Del Rio,Soledad Del Pozo-Luengo,Riccardo C Bonadonna ,Alessandra Dei ,Raúl Domínguez‐Perles ,Pedro L Tornel ,Ángel Gil‐Izquierdo ,Cristian Ricci,Michele Tassotti,Francesca Scazzina,Donato Angelino,Federica Fantuzzi,Pedro Mena

doi:10.1007/s00394-020-02347-5

Abstract

PurposeCoffee is an important source of bioactive compounds, including caffeine, trigonelline, and phenolic compounds. Several studies have highlighted the preventive effects of coffee consumption on major cardiometabolic (CM) diseases, but the impact of different coffee dosages on markers of CM risk in a real-life setting has not been fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the effect of coffee and cocoa-based confectionery containing coffee consumption on several CM risk factors in healthy subjects.MethodsIn a three-arm, crossover, randomized trial, 21 volunteers were assigned to consume in a random order for 1 month: 1 cup of espresso coffee/day, 3 cups of espresso coffee/day, and 1 cup of espresso coffee plus 2 cocoa-based products containing coffee, twice per day. At the last day of each treatment, blood samples were collected and used for the analysis of inflammatory markers, trimethylamine N-oxide, nitric oxide, blood lipids, and markers of glucose/insulin metabolism. Moreover, anthropometric parameters and blood pressure were measured. Finally, food consumption during the interventions was monitored.ResultsAfter 1 month, energy intake did not change among treatments, while significant differences were observed in the intake of saturated fatty acids, sugars, and total carbohydrates. No significant effect on CM markers was observed following neither the consumption of different coffee dosages nor after cocoa-based products containing coffee.ConclusionsThe daily consumption of common dosages of coffee and its substitution with cocoa-based products containing coffee showed no effect on CM risk factors in healthy subjects.Trial registration numberRegistered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03166540, May 21, 2017.

Highlights

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages, with about 1.5 billion cups daily consumed worldwide [1]
Coffee capsules used during the study provided an average of 74 mg/ serving of caffeine, 11 mg/serving of theobromine, 75 mg/ serving of trigonelline, 4 mg/serving of N-methylpyridinium, and 73 mg/serving of chlorogenic acids (CGAs) (59% corresponding to caffeoylquinic acids, while 41% to other hydroxycinnamates)
The number of cocoa-based confectionery containing coffee was chosen, considering that the amount of caffeine provided by a cup of espresso coffee doubles approximately the amount of caffeine provided by two cocoa-based products containing coffee

Summary

Introduction

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages, with about 1.5 billion cups daily consumed worldwide [1]. Extended author information available on the last page of the article to the genus Coffea, only two coffee species (i.e., Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora) are used to prepare coffee, there are many different ways to prepare coffee beverages, such as percolation, filtration, infusion, and others. From a chemical point of view, coffee is a complex mixture of several bioactive compounds. These include alkaloids, among which caffeine and trigonelline, phenolic compounds, mostly chlorogenic acids (CGAs), diterpenes (i.e., cafestol and kahweol), and melanoidins. The amount of all these bioactives in coffee widely vary based on coffee species as well as on coffee roasting, extraction, and brewing procedures [2,3]

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