It may seem too good to be true, but guilt-free chocolate which promises to slow down the emergence of wrinkles and sagging skin, has been developed by scientists.
‘Esthechoc’ the brainchild of a Cambridge University spin-off lab, claimed to boost antioxidant levels and increase circulation in a bid to prevent lines and keep the skin looking youthful and smooth.
The lab stated that a small 7.5g bar of anti-aging chocolate contains the same amount of the antioxidant astaxanthin as a fillet of Alaskan salmon, and equal levels of free-radical fighting cocoa polyphenols as 100g of dark chocolate.
According to its makers, the chocolate bar can change the underlying skin of a 50-60 year old into that of someone in their 20s or 30s. According to tests, after four weeks of eating the anti-aging chocolate every day, volunteers had less evidence of inflammation in their blood and increased blood supply to skin tissue.
Creator Dr Ivan Petyaev, a former researcher at Cambridge University, and founder of biotech firm Lycotec, said: “We’re using the same antioxidant that keeps goldfish gold and flamingos pink.
“In clinical trials we saw that inflammation in the skin started to go down and the tissues began to benefit."
He added that they used people in their 50s and 60s adding that in terms of skin biomarkers they found it had brought skin back to the levels of a 20 or 30 year old.
“We’ve improved the skin’s physiology.”
However, ‘Esthechoc’ will not be sold in Britain’s corner shops. The sweetmeat, which is also called ‘Cambridge Beauty Chocolate’ comes boxed as a three week supply, individually wrapped, and will only be available in high end retailers from next month.
It is also likely to come with a hefty price tag, although its makers were unwilling to reveal the cost before its official launch at the Global Food Innovation Summit in London next month.
According to its brochure the target market are ‘elegant, educated and affluent’ city-dwelling women in their 30s, and businessmen ‘to support their appearance in a stressful environment and on their business travels.’
Health experts were cautious about the product. Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine at Glasgow University, said more robust clinical trials would be needed to validate the ‘ridiculously strong’ claims made by the company.
“These food claims need to be back up with trials to have any genuine credibility. Such trials are glaring by their absence so all such health claims are unfounded.”
Nutrition experts at University College London also warned that previous trials showed that astaxanthin worked better when applied directly to the face rather than ingested.