Does Eating Chocolate Make You Smarter?

I’m sure everyone has heard the myth that a piece of chocolate and a glass of red wine a day can actually make you smarter. Is there any actual truth to this? Could eating something that your mother always told you was unhealthy actually be beneficial? The research team led by Georgina Crichton of the University of South Austria seems to think so. They studied two groups of people, those who ate chocolate at least once a week, and those who didn’t. They were given cognitive tests and the average score of someone who ate chocolate was significantly higher than someone who did not. Memory specifically was noted to be significantly improved when eating chocolate. Someone who ate chocolate had a much easier time memorizing and reciting a grocery list or a phone number.

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Researchers believe that the the cocoa flavonals are what causes the improved brain function. These same nutrients have also been linked to increased cardiovascular system performance. They support the flow of blood through the body which is important for cardiovascular health as well as healthy aging.

Another thing found in this study was that dark chocolate is more beneficial than milk chocolate, supporting the idea that the cocoa is connected with brain function as dark chocolate has a much higher concentration of cocoa.

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