Eating dark chocolates daily can boost brainpower of the elderly: Study

Chocolate lovers rejoice, as a recent study has found that eating dark chocolate daily can help in boosting brain function and counter the mental effects of sleep deprivation in older adults.

Researchers from the University of L’Aquila in Italy suggested that a chemical in chocolate called flavanol can counteract the effects of sleep deprivation and could therefore help people with insomnia. These effects were, however, most pronounced in older adults with mild brain impairments.

Flavanols are natural compounds that boost brain function alongside a range of protective effects and are found in abundance in cocoa beans. (Shutterstock)

Flavanols are natural compounds that boost brain function alongside a range of protective effects and are found in abundance in cocoa beans. The findings suggested that attention, brain processing speed, working memory, and fluency of speech in the elderly can all be improved by a daily dose of flavanol.

“This result suggests the potential of cocoa flavanols to protect cognition in vulnerable populations over time by improving cognitive performance,” said the study’s lead author Dr Valentina Socci. “Dark chocolate is a rich source of flavanols - so we always eat some dark chocolate, every day,” Socci added. The team explored what happens to the brain up to a few hours after you eat cocoa flavanols.

The effects of eating cocoa flavanols in the long term - ranging from five days up to 3 months - was mostly studied in elderly people. The review found that, for the elderly, brain function is boosted by a daily intake of chocolate. The research is published in the journal Frontiers In Nutrition.

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