Cocoa Epicatechin and Pairing Nutrition With Loading for Tendinopathy

Keith's lab screened 2,700 natural products on human ACL cells and found more than 50 that stimulate collagen synthesis, many of them phenolic compounds such as flavonoids. Epicatechin from cocoa increased collagen gene expression in animals. In people, natural cocoa at 1 mg/kg per day nearly doubled P1NP, while Dutch-processed cocoa contains none. In ROTC trainees, six weeks of epicatechin-enriched cocoa gave a fourfold greater gain in rate of force development than placebo. The combined approach is described: epicatechin increases collagen genes, whey signals the cells to make more protein, and dietary collagen supplies the building blocks. An Olympic discus thrower with bilateral patellar tendinopathy used long-hold isometrics with 15 grams of gelatin in orange juice an hour before loading and was nearly healed within 50 days. Because tendons have little blood flow, loading pumps fluid and nutrients through the tissue. Taking the supplement at the same time daily also works. The take-home messages: 20 to 30 grams of collagen, vitamin C, whey and epicatechin all support loading, but none replaces it.