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Dark chocolate has already been proven to render some sort of benefit in terms of cardiovascular health but this recent study could bode well for athletes looking to fare better in competitions.

The study comes from London’s Kingston University showing dark chocolate to deliver similar benefits to beetroot juice which some athletes are now taking regularly for improved performance.

The secret behind beetroot juice is credited to the nitrates it carries, something which is converted to nitric oxide in the human body. They eventually help dilate the blood vessels and reduces oxygen consumption for the ones who take them, enabling athletes to go and last longer.

In an effort to see if dark chocolate can provide a similar boost, a postgraduate research student named Rishikesh Kankesh Patel took on the challenge, focusing on a substance called epicatechin that similarly boosts nitric oxide production in bodies.

He experimented on such with the help of nine cyclists to get to the bottom of it and split the participants into two groups. One group was asked to substitute their normal snacks with dark chocolate rich in flavanols while the other made use of white chocolate.

A series of cycling tests were then carried out at the sports performance laboratory at the University's Penrhyn Road campus and included heart rate monitoring and oxygen consumption. After seven days, the groups were made to switch chocolates in the two-week trial experiment.

It would, later on, be found that the cyclists used less oxygen when going at a moderate pace while also covering more ground via two-minute time trial. The positive results could open the doors for more research which may eventually recommend dark chocolate as part of the diets of athletes for better endurance.

"Both dark chocolate and beetroot juice are known to increase nitric oxide, which is the major mechanism we believe is behind these results," Mr Patel said. "We found that people could effectively exercise for longer after eating dark chocolate -something that's not been established before in this way."

The study is already published on the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. It was part of Patel’s undergraduate sports science degree at Kingston University. With the positive results, he is now hoping to establish an optimal flavanol level with dark chocolate to help boost athlete’s performance.