Eating Chocolate Every Single Day Has A Surprising And Significant Impact On The Human Brain

“YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE!” aka Yolo… this is exactly what I tell myself every time I pull up to the McDonald’s drive-thru for the third time that week or I’m about to finish off my 5th Hershey’s Cookies & Cream bar that day…

Because let’s face it, the truth is that denying yourself your favorite snack or treat or general garbage junk food meal is absolutely no fun whatsoever… which is why I myself (and I’m sure a whole lot of other people out there) are so very quick to pick up on literally any type of research that kinda shows us that the foods we can’t live without can actually be good for us in some shape or form.

Just like chocolate, the stuff that treat-yourself-dreams are made of, for example. That gooood good stuff is high in cocoa, which actually contains compounds called (and I swear I’m not making this up) flavonoids. And there is actually a fair bit of research which shows that these flavonoids can help your brain by improving memory as well as the way you process information.

Hurray for science!

 

(Source: Linus Pauling Institute)

HOWEVER, don’t be breaking out those Hershey bars just yet people, because apparently, most chocolate bars don’t actually contain much cocoa at all, since it’s pretty freakin’ bitter (sounds like a lot of my exes!). And if you’re a huge fan of white chocolate (my, personal favorite), then you are completely out of luck, since most white chocolate literally has no cocoa inside of it whatsoever.

Those who prefer to use pure cocoa powder in their own baking or enjoy a nice bit of dark chocolate (BLEURGH) are more likely out of everybody to feel the beneficial effects of those cocoa… flavonoids.

Same goes for all those milk chocolate lovers out there. Milk chocolate lovers can also benefit from those flavonoids, however, they should make sure to buy higher quality chocolates that contain at least 35 percent of cocoa solids.

But what does the SCIENCE say?

Well, a 2017 paper which was published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition written by Italian researchers actually examined some other previous studies which have been done on chocolate and cognitive function (what a freakin’ mouthful). Their review showed that many research teams have studied both the long-term and short-term effects of cocoa consumption.

The good news is that a large majority of the studies did show a correlation between eating cocoa flavonoids and the improved cognitive performance areas such as memory and visual information processing.

Some studies even showed that sleep-deprived women could also improve their accuracy when performing tasks if they indulge in a bit of cocoa after a bad nights sleep. FINALLY, there comes an advantage from being sleep-deprived… an excuse for eating chocolate for freakin’ breakfast!

Of course, the amount of cocoa consumed and the difficulty of the cognitive tasks being performed  also mattered a lot when it came to noticing a difference – basically, a candy bar certainly isn’t going to make you any smarter long-term… cause y’know life just isn’t that fair, however, an iddy biddy jolt of dark chocolate could actually help to get you through a tough afternoon meeting after you’ve had a troublesome nights sleep.

Most long-term studies of cocoa and brain activity have been performed in the more… elderly of populations. These too found that cocoa could indeed improve attention, memory and clear thinking even in those elderly humans who have declining memories or other cognitive impairments, whatever they may be.

The wonderful researchers also say that there’s a connection between the flavonoids and cardiovascular health that helps explain exactly how the brain is affected:

“If you look at the underlying mechanism, the cocoa flavanols have beneficial effects for cardiovascular health and can increase cerebral blood volume in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. This structure is particularly affected by aging and therefore the potential source of age-related memory decline in humans.”

Remember before when I said that life just isn’t that fair? Yeah, well here’s the proof of that. See, it’s not all good news. Yes, while regular cocoa consumption can indeed improve your brain function, there, of course, are downsides. As we all know, chocolate can be high in calories and additives like milk and sugar meaning it can and will definitely lead to weight gain, as well as all of the other health issues that come along with it.

Just like so many other studies, these findings truly are an interesting step towards showing a real causal connection between eating cocoa and improved brain health, alas, more research still needs to be done.

In the meantime, however, it can’t actually hurt to have a bit of dark chocolate in moderation a few times a week. Of course, if that’s not a taste you actually enjoy, guess where else you can also find flavonoids!? Yep, that’s right folks, they can be found in yummy scrummy foods such as apples, red grapes, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, beans, kale, and onions… lucky us! (although few studies have been performed connecting these foods to brain health).

And I have no doubt in my mind that you’ve already heard about the research which connects flavonoids in red wine to the health of our brains. I’ve had it bookmarked on my laptop since the day it was freakin’ released.

As with most studies of this nature, it will likely be a case that as the research piles up, companies will, of course, come up with ways to isolate flavonoid compounds and make them into dietary supplements (in fact, some have already tried to do so, however, the FDA will not yet allow them to market it as a ‘support medicine’).

I mean that sounds great and all, y’know, not having to worry about calories from such a supplement which could be so very beneficial to our brains, however, I do have to admit that it really doesn’t sound as delicious as a lovely glass of wine and a nice bit of chocolate, does it? NOPE.

Are you a huge chocolate lover? What’s your favorite kind? How do you feel about this fabulous piece of research? Let me know in the comments! And don’t forget to share this with your friends and family so that they can revel in the good news too! AAx

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