Chocolate contains cacao , which is packed with healthy chemicals like flavonoids and theobromine. Previous studies found that cocoa (which
is cacao in its roasted, ground form) flavanols help improve blood circulation and prevent heart disease. Now, it was also found to have a positive effect on the memory of elderly.
In a small study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, 37 respondents with ages from 50 to 69 were divided into two groups. One group was asked to drink a mixture high in cocoa flavanols for three months while the other group drank a low-flavanol mixture for the same period.
After three months, those who drank high-flavanol mixture performed better on a memory test than respondents who drank a low one. On average, the high-flavanol drinkers performed about 25 percent better than the low-flavanol group.
Besides improvements on the memory test — a pattern recognition test involving the kind of skill used in remembering where you parked the car or recalling the face of someone you just met — researchers found increased function in an area of hippocampus of the brain called the dentate gyrus, which has been related to age-related memory change.
However, there was no increased activity in another hippocampal region, the entorhinal cortex, which is impaired early in Alzheimer’s disease. This reinforces the idea that age-related memory decline is different and suggests that flavanols might not help Alzheimer’s, even though they might delay normal memory loss.
In addition, “you would have to eat a large amount of chocolate,” along with its fat and calories, said Hagen Schroeter, director of fundamental health and nutrition research for Mars Inc.
In a small study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, 37 respondents with ages from 50 to 69 were divided into two groups. One group was asked to drink a mixture high in cocoa flavanols for three months while the other group drank a low-flavanol mixture for the same period.
After three months, those who drank high-flavanol mixture performed better on a memory test than respondents who drank a low one. On average, the high-flavanol drinkers performed about 25 percent better than the low-flavanol group.
Besides improvements on the memory test — a pattern recognition test involving the kind of skill used in remembering where you parked the car or recalling the face of someone you just met — researchers found increased function in an area of hippocampus of the brain called the dentate gyrus, which has been related to age-related memory change.
However, there was no increased activity in another hippocampal region, the entorhinal cortex, which is impaired early in Alzheimer’s disease. This reinforces the idea that age-related memory decline is different and suggests that flavanols might not help Alzheimer’s, even though they might delay normal memory loss.
In addition, “you would have to eat a large amount of chocolate,” along with its fat and calories, said Hagen Schroeter, director of fundamental health and nutrition research for Mars Inc.
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