Effects of Cocoa on Gastrointestinal Function

February 9, 2018 updated by: University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Effects of Cocoa Solids on Gastrointestinal Transit, Postprandial Sensation and Gastrointestinal Well-being: a Randomized, Controlled Trial in Healthy Volunteers

This is a randomized, controlled, 2x2 cross-over study to assess the effects of cocoa solids on gastrointestinal transit, post-prandial sensation and well-being. Additionally functional brain imaging will be applied to identify regions of brain that are activated or inactivated by cocoa ingestion. Healthy subjects will be recruited and randomized to receive either dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) or white chocolate (0% cocoa solids) in addition to their normal diet in randomized order. Reference standard methodology will be applied to measure gastric emptying, oro-caecal and colonic transit time. Dark and white chocolate (100g, ~500kcal, ~50% fat) will be consumed with radio-opaque markers on three consecutive days. On the third day chocolate ingestion will be followed by measurements of postprandial brain activity using FDG-Positron Emission Tomography. Additionally colonic transit will be assessed based on the number and distribution of radio-opaque markers in the colon. On the fourth day gastric emptying and oro-caecal transit time will be assessed by scintigraphy after ingestion of a dark or white chocolate mousse test meal (both 150g, ~500kcal, ~50% fat). During both interventional studies pre- and post-prandial satiety and dyspeptic symptoms, well-being and mood will be recorded. Additionally, validated questionnaires will assess digestive comfort and well-bring at the end of each study day. These results will deliver comprehensive information about the effects of cocoa on gastrointestinal transit and sensation.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
16

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy volunteers (men and women)
  • aged 18-65 years
  • body mass index 18-30kg/m2.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • special dietary requirements incompatible with dietary intervention (food allergies or intolerances)
  • clinically significant concomitant disease states (e.g., renal failure, hepatic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, etc.) that preclude intake of test meals
  • participation in another study with investigational drug within the 30 days preceding and during the present study (purely diagnostic studies are acceptable)
  • individuals unwilling to provide written informed consent
  • inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems (all study documents in English)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Dark chocolate: FDG-PET
100 g dark chocolate bar (70% cocoa solids (~500kcal, ~50% fat)) will be consumed with radio-opaque markers on three consecutive days. On the third day chocolate ingestion will be followed by measurements of postprandial brain activity and colonic transit using chocolate: fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET)
Dietary supplement: Dark chocolate bar
Dark chocolate bar (70% cocoa solids (~500kcal, ~50% fat)), 100g / day for 3 days to assess postprandial brain activity and colonic transit by FDG-PET.
Active Comparator: Dark chocolate: Physiological Measurement
150 g dark chocolate mousse (~500kcal, ~50% fat) labelled with 13C-lactose-ureide and technetium (99Tc) will be consumed to assess gastric emptying and oro-caecal transit time by scintigraphy.
Dietary supplement: Dark chocolate mousse
Dark chocolate mousse (150g, ~500kcal, ~50% fat) to assess gastric emptying and oro-caecal transit time by scintigraphy.
Placebo Comparator: White chocolate: FDG-PET
100 g white chocolate bar (0% cocoa solids (~500kcal, 50% fat) will be consumed with radio-opaque markers on three consecutive days. On the third day chocolate ingestion will be followed by measurements of postprandial brain activity and colonic transit using FDG-Positron Emission Tomography.
Dietary supplement: White chocolate bar
White chocolate bar (0% cocoa solids (~500kcal, 50% fat)), 100g / day for 3 days to assess postprandial brain activity and colonic transit by FDG-PET.
Placebo Comparator: White chocolate: Physiological Measurement
150 g white chocolate mousse (~500kcal, ~50% fat) labelled with 13C-lactose-ureide and technetium (99Tc) will be consumed to assess gastric emptying and oro-caecal transit time by scintigraphy.
Dietary supplement: White chocolate mousse
White chocolate mousse (150g, ~500kcal, ~50% fat) to assess gastric emptying and oro-caecal transit time by scintigraphy.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Gastric emptying half time
Time Frame: Baseline until 2 hours postingestion
assessed by scintigraphy
Baseline until 2 hours postingestion

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Oro-caecal transit time (OCTT)
Time Frame: Baseline until 3 hours postingestion
assessed by scintigraphy and 13-C Lactose-Ureide
Baseline until 3 hours postingestion
Colonic transit time
Time Frame: Baseline until 3 days after ingestion
assessed by radio-opaque marker technique
Baseline until 3 days after ingestion
Post-prandial satiety
Time Frame: changes from baseline to three hours after treatment
assessed by visual analogue scales
changes from baseline to three hours after treatment
Gastrointestinal well-being
Time Frame: changes from baseline to three hours after treatment
assessed by Likert scale
changes from baseline to three hours after treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Mark Fox, Prof. Dr., St. Claraspital Basel, Abdominal Center: Gastroenterology

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 10, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 12, 2017

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 18, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 12, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 9, 2018

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Chocolate Study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Undecided

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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