Researchers at the University of Maine and South Australia, have confirmed that chocolate intake can benefit cognitive functions and upgrades brain performance.
Is not a secret that chocolate, besides being delicious, has always been associated with improvements in personal health since ancient times. Researchers at the University of Maine, supported by a Sidney research fellowship, began to study the benefits of this delicious treat in brain cells and brain productiveness.
The study suggested that more frequent consumption of the treat signified better performance on tests and measures of mental acuity. This tests included visual and spatial memory, memory retaining, scanning and tracking and abstract reasoning according to the research posted in the web journal Appetite.
The research was conducted in a long-term study, with about 1,000 people from 2001 to 2006, between the ages of 23 to 98 years old in the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study ( MSL). The study showed that the consumption of cocoa beans and cocoa flavanols were associated with alertness and cognitive functions. The tests were made hours after consuming the flavored treat. The team of researchers used a questionnaire based on nutrition and health of the subjects, to determine whether the productiveness was oriented in another food, the subjects were asked to give information about personal nutrition facts. Based on quantity and predominant inhibition of food.
The results of the study were compared between subjects who consumed chocolate during the study, to those who had rarely or never consumed chocolate within a week of studies. Chocolate measurements and effect sizes were shown in a table delivered by the team. Resulting in an upgrade of energy and higher cognitive scores.
Although the study didn’t specify why chocolate upgraded cognitive functions, the researchers determined its because cocoa flavanols play a roll with methylxanthines a produced compound that is best known for enhancement of body functions.
Chocolate has also been linked to the enhancement of cardiovascular fluency.
Source: Science Direct