The rumor that chocolate improves memory has spread rapidly. Is that rumor true though? Can chocolate really be healthy? The answer to that question is yes chocolate does have its benefits and memory improvement is one of them. Though it’s not quite what you’d expect.
The cocoa bean has many health benefits such as being packed full of antioxidants, and fighting cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately most chocolate bars today contain minimal amounts of actual cocoa. Milk and white chocolates are not included in this because they don’t actually contain sufficient amounts of cocoa. To have any actual positive effects you need to have dark chocolate that’s up to 70% cocoa.
Tests have been done to see how chocolate can help. Scientists tested on people between the ages 50 and 69, for three weeks they drank hot cocoa high in flavonols, while others drank cocoa low in flavanols. Those who drank the high flavonols had significant improvement in their memory; for example remembering where they parked the car, or remembering someone’s face who they’ve only met a few times. This though doesn’t do any good if you have Alzheimer's. Test subjects showed no changes in their entorhinal cortex which is the place of the brain affected by Alzheimer's. Also if you want any significant affect on your memory at all from chocolate you’d have to eat at least 7 full sized dark chocolate bars a day. This of course would bring up many more problems, because though it does have its benefits it’s also high in sugar and calories. When asked about this subject Custodian Kley tells us he doesn’t like dark chocolate, but would eat it if it helped his memory, when told how much chocolate he’d have to eat he said, “I don’t know that’s a lot of chocolate I don’t think I could eat that much chocolate.” As you can see dark chocolate is only good in moderation.
I love chocolate and I am glad it's good for you.
ReplyDeleteI need to sit around eating chocolate and doing crossword puzzles.
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