Imagine if you could eat chocolate every day – and it was good for you?
Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Well, scientists from the University of L’Aquila in Italy consume some dark chocolate every day and the reason for this is because according to their study, cognitive performance improves by a daily intake of cocoa flavanols.
Flavanols are a class of natural compounds that have neuroprotective effects on our brain and cocoa bean is a rich source of it.
Previous studies have shown clear cardiovascular benefits derived from flavanols including neuromodulation and neuroprotective actions.
But scientists specifically wanted to understand the effects of acute and chronic administration of cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains, such as executive functions, attention and memory.
The Italian researchers examined available literature to understand what happens in the brain up to a few hours after cocoa consumption and what happens if this consumption is sustained over a period of time.
Although there were few randomised trials investigating the acute effect of cocoa flavanol, most of them showed beneficial effects on cognitive performance.
Participants showed improvement in working memory performance and improved visual information processing after cocoa consumption.
The studies showed that women who ate cocoa after a night of sleep deprivation could perform tasks better, counteracting cognitive impairment that would come from such a night which means that flavanol consumption can be a positive answer for people suffering from chronic sleep deprivation or for those who work in shifts.
The effect of long term cocoa consumption (3 to 5 days) has generally been investigated in elderly individuals and these studies showed that their cognitive performance improved with the daily intake of cocoa flavanols. There was significant improvement in attention, processing speed, working memory, and verbal fluency and these effects were most pronounced in older adults who had mild cognitive impairments and were showing signs of memory decline.
The protective power of cocoa flavanols in the aging population is very promising as over time it can improve cognitive performance. Cocoa flavanols increases blood volume in that region of the brain, which is particularly affected by aging, and thus can have a beneficial effect on age-related memory decline in humans.
This means that a regular intake of cocoa and chocolate can provide beneficial effects on cognitive functioning over time but you only have to worry about other side effects that come from the caloric value of chocolate, some chemical compounds found in the cocoa plant such as caffeine and theobromine, and additives that are add to chocolate such as sugar or milk.
A bit of dark chocolate every day won’t harm you but will definitely improve the working of your brain amongst other benefits.
Source: Frontiers in Nutrition
