People mainly take Epicatechin for performance. Based on 8 first-hand reports and 25 meta-analyses & systematic reviews in the medical literature. Ranked #1113 of 1,974 overall.
Of reports that state an outcome, 100% are positive.
Of the people who reported each effect, the share who said it got better.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses from PubMed, with their published conclusions.
3+ meta-analyses or systematic reviews and 10+ randomized controlled trials in humans. The grade measures how much human research exists — read the conclusions below for what it found.
Conclusion: Flavan-3-ol-rich foods considerably reduce elevated BP and improve endothelial function independent of blood pressure supporting their use for cardiovascular prevention.
PubMed 40126033 ↗Conclusion: We found consistent acute and chronic benefits of chocolate or cocoa on FMD and previously unreported promising effects on insulin and HOMA-IR. Larger, longer-duration, and independently funded trials are required to confirm the potential cardiovascular benefits of cocoa flavan-3-ols.
PubMed 22301923 ↗Conclusion: It exhibits a wide variety of activities such as antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-allergic, anticarcinogenic, anti-thrombotic, and hepatoprotective, besides being involved in the activation of apoptotic associated gene expression and signal transduction in molecular pathways. Despite a multitude of clinical studies, new efforts are needed in clinical research to determine the complete therapeutic potential of phloretin.
PubMed 30864525 ↗Conclusion: This meta-analysis provides evidence that cocoa flavanols could significantly improve endothelial function, with an optimal effect observed with 710 mg total flavanols, 95 mg (-)-epicatechin or 25 mg (+)-catechin. However, there was substantial variation in the results that could not be explained by the characteristics that we explored, and there were significant risk-of-bias concerns with a large majority of the studies.
PubMed 31524216 ↗As stated by users — not a recommendation. Follow the label or your doctor.
How often each side effect came up across all reports.
Verbatim quotes, shortened only — each links to the original discussion.
“Epicatechin has shown to reduce myostatin by 21% but it has only half-life of 6hrs”
“Epicatechin 90% Tablets | 200mg (−)-epicatechin + 6mg Piperine”
“have you tried epicatechin and if so what was your experience like?”
“epicatechin (before evening workout)”
“I'm sold on this stuff! Came back from a month off from lifting and hit an impromptu PR on deadlifts.”
User data from public discussions; research from PubMed. Information only, not medical advice — talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. Data updated October 2, 2026. How we rate