A compound found in dark chocolate may be linked to slower biological aging, according to new research from King's College London. The study, published in Aging, looked at levels of theobromine, a natural chemical that comes from cocoa beans, and compared them with markers that estimate how quickly a person is aging at the cellular level.
Biological age is different from the number of years someone has lived. It reflects how the body is functioning based on factors like DNA methylation patterns and the length of telomeres, which act as protective caps on chromosomes. These measures tend to shift as people age and can give scientists clues about long-term health.
Across two large European cohorts, the researchers found that people with higher amounts of theobromine in their blood tended to have a lower biological age than their chronological age. The study included 509 adults from the TwinsUK cohort and more than 1,100 adults from the German KORA study.
“Our study finds links between a key component of dark chocolate and staying younger for longer,” said Professor Jordana Bell, senior author of the study.
She emphasized that the findings should not be taken as a reason to increase chocolate intake but noted that “this research can help us understand how everyday foods may hold clues to healthier, longer lives.”
The team also examined other compounds found in cocoa and coffee but did not see the same association. Their analysis suggests that theobromine may influence processes related to aging, possibly through pathways that affect gene activity. The researchers stress that the findings show an association, not proof that dark chocolate slows aging, and caution that chocolate also contains sugar, fat and calories.
The next steps will focus on understanding how theobromine interacts with other components of cocoa and how these relationships influence biological aging.
“This is a very exciting finding,” said Dr. Ramy Saad, the study's lead researcher. “The next important questions are what is behind this association and how can we explore the interactions between dietary metabolites and our epigenome further?”
For now, the study highlights how certain dietary compounds circulating in the bloodstream may offer clues about aging, while reinforcing that more research is needed before translating these findings into dietary advice.
This research was supported by the European Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” through the DIMENSION project, with funding provided by agencies in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. Additional support came from the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, Versus Arthritis, the European Union Horizon 2020 program, the Chronic Disease Research Foundation, ZOE Limited and the National Institute for Health Research. The KORA study received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the State of Bavaria, with data collection conducted in collaboration with the University Hospital of Augsburg. Several researchers received additional support from national and international research foundations.