Eating chocolate has long been known to improve mood and increase blood flow, but new research indicates it may have an even bigger benefit: reducing age-related memory loss. The key ingredient, reports LATimes.com, is epicatechin, a flavanol found in cocoa beans. In a small study, researchers looked at two groups of healthy individuals ages 50 to 69. Half were given a daily drink that contained 900 milligrams of epicatechin, while the others consumed just 10 milligrams a day. After three months, the high-dose group performed significantly better on memory tests, and subsequent brain scans confirmed improved blood flow to the dentate gyrus, a region of the brain that’s been linked to age-related memory loss. Researchers caution that the typical candy bar contains minuscule amounts of the flavanol (with dark chocolate having more than milk chocolate), and that people would have to eat up to 25 chocolate bars a day to get as much as the group in the experiment. “It would make a lot of people happy,” said study author Scott Small, “but it would also make them unhealthy.” Researchers plan another, larger study on the memory-protective effects of epicatechin.
Found this in my favorite magazine, The Week, on November 14, 2014.
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