Is Chocolate The Anti-Aging Answer? According To New "Beauty Chocolate" Inventors, Yes

CAMBRIDGE, U.K. - The day has finally arrived, claims U.K.-based biomedical company Lycotec, when you can look younger by eating chocolate. 

According to Lycotec, creators of the "world's first beauty chocolate," the consumption of their newly developed "Esthechoc" can make skin appear to look an unfathomable 20 to 30 years younger. 

Speaking on behalf of the Cambridge University-linked biomedical company, Dr Ivan Petyaev explainedthat the new "Esthechoc" contains very high levels of cocoa flavanols and marine carotenoid astaxanthin, which are powerful antioxidants known for their multiple anti-aging properties.

Esthechoc will come in packs of 21 bars that are supposed to be eaten over a period of three weeks

via Metro/ Cambridge Chocolate

Although these properties are found naturally in dark chocolate, Esthechoc contains much higher concentrations. Lycotec explains: 

"The blend of proprietary technologies behind the laboratory and clinical development of this product empowers these bioactive molecules to such a level that one 7.5g piece of Esthechoc delivers flavanol activity equivalent to 100g of dark chocolate, and astaxanthin to the level of 300g of wild Alaskan salmon."

The company says the product has proven superior to leading dark chocolate and food supplement products in "extensive clinical trials." According to Dr. Ivan Petyaev, director of Lycotec and the inventor of the technology behind Esthechoc, clinical trials involved over 3,000 volunteers aged 50 to 60 years old. After three to four weeks of consuming Esthechoc daily, volunteers were found to have boosted blood supply to the skin as well as reduced inflammation. In short, "The findings of the research revealed that the biomarkers of the participant's skin were bought back to those of a 20 or 30-year-old person," explains Petyaev.

Many scientists have found chocolate to have natural wrinkle-fighting properties

Petyaev says it took "a number of years" to develop the research at Cambridge and convert it to a "functional chocolate portfolio," and he is excited to finally be launching the product next month. In 2014, Lycotec entered a licensing agreement with investment company Adiuvo in order to commercialize its dream-come-true product.

As Adiuvo and Lycotec get excited to release their Beauty Chocolate on the market, experts suggest consumers approach the product with a grain of caution, believing that further clinical studies need to be conducted before its too-good-to-be-true claims can be proven otherwise. 

Esthechoc's price point, yet to be released, may help consumers decide whether the product is worth trying, or if a regular chocolate bar will be enough to satisfy their sweet craving for younger-looking skin.