Anti-Aging Tip: Eat Chocolate, Run Longer

All sorts of good things come to those who eat dark chocolate, but even your ability to ‘go the distance’? Yes, it turns out that cocoa can improve your endurance as a runner. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, gave doses of a cocoa flavinoid called epicatechin to laboratory mice. The mice were then tested on treadmills for 15 days, and it turns out that those who got the choc improved their treadmill performance by a whopping 50 percent! Granted, these were lab rats, but what happened happens in all mammals: An increase in capillaries in their skeletal muscles, which means more oxygen gets delivered. Just make sure you stick to dark chocolate, rich in cocoa.

Anti-Aging Tip: Daily doses of dark chocolate—i.e. cocoa—can improve muscular performance.

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