Can This $54 Box Of 'Esthechoc' Chocolate Give You Younger-Looking Skin?

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(Photo: Getty Images)

Breakthrough news for youth-seeking chocoholics: Scientists in England have developed a chocolate bar infused with extra antioxidants that promises to reverse the effects of aging — and has the clinical studies to prove it.

But the box will set you back …. $54.

“Esthechoc,” otherwise known as Cambridge Beauty Chocolate, combines “proprietary enhanced power of Cocoa Polyphenols and one of the strongest antioxidants: Astaxanthin,” according to its website. The company claims that the chocolate “improves skin microcirculation, supports oxygen saturation, [and] enhances skin detoxication and nutrition.”

Esthechoc tested their chocolate in clinical trials and found promising results. “We saw that inflammation in the skin started to go down and the tissues began to benefit,” Ivan Petyaev, former researcher at Cambridge University and founder of Esthechoc told The Telegraph. “We used people in their 50s and 60s and in terms of skin biomarkers we found it had brought skin back to the levels of a 20 or 30 year old. So we’ve improved the skin’s physiology.”

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A box of 21 Esthechoc bars (photo courtesy of Huffington Post UK)

Each bar clocks in at 38 calories and, according to their website, are “suitable for vegans,” though they may contain traces of milk. But while the ingredients list checks out — and the 72 percent cacao is nutritionist-approved — a box of 21 single-serving 7.5g bars retails for a whopping $54, making it some of the priciest chocolate on the market.

Related: The Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever

But don’t the antioxidants give you an extra anti-aging boost? Well, according to Registered Dietitian Keri Gans, high-quality chocolate already does that. “Chocolate naturally contains flavanols, which are antioxidants,” Gans tells Yahoo Health. And as great as antioxidants are, she says, “it is always best to try and consume from a whole food, rather than buying individual nutrients.”

When it comes to good-for-you chocolate, you might be better off reaching for a bar of high-quality, non-designer dark chocolate. “It appears that this is strictly a marketing ploy to get the consumer to purchase their product,” says Gans.

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