SCORE! A new study shows that chocolates have been linked to improving brain health!
A recent study published in the journal Neurology reports that chocolate can help improve brain health and thinking skills in the elderly.
The Boston-based team found that older people who initially performed poorly on memory and reasoning tests showed improvement after drinking two cups of cocoa everyday for a month.
The researchers set out to test whether it’s because chocolate helps increase blood flow to the brain to help with problem solving and boosting performance. Earlier studies showed that consuming chocolate high in the antioxidant flavanol, was associated with better brain and blood vessel during functioning.
The team found that drinking hot chocolate only benefited subjects who had poor cognitive and neuromuscular function to begin with. After the hot cocoa regimen, the individuals showed an 8% improvement in blood flow and roughly 1 minute faster reaction time on the cognitive task.
Dr. Costantino Iadecola, a neurologist at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, who was not involved in the study, commented that the excess sugar and fat intake could be the cause of the blood boost, and could also be detrimental to the health of patients. She highly recommends an that people improve their cognitive function through workouts and brain exercise to keep their brains healthy. [Source]
Maybe we should start giving our grandmoms a box of sugar-free dark chocolates whenever we see her from now on!
