Having enjoyed the many delights of the Easter long weekend, not the least of which would have been the emphasis on ….yes you’ve guessed it CHOCOLATE!!! Now is the time to take stock and discover that, if Chocolate is something you absolutely love and must have, you are not a self-indulgent so and so who totally lacks self-control. No indeed you are one of those who know good brain food when they see and taste it! Seriously and simply Chocolate makes your brain work better. Chocolate contains flavonols and it is these that appear to bring sharpness and clarity to your ability to think and promote concentration.

Study confirms Chocolate as Brain food

The information comes as a result of a well-controlled double-blind study from the University of L'Aquila in Italy, where they were able to establish a connection between the consumption of Chocolate and heightened cognitive ability. Dr. Giovambattista Desideri, who led the research team, said,

"This study provides encouraging evidence that consuming cocoa flavonols, as a part of a calorie-controlled and nutritionally-balanced diet, could improve cognitive function."  He continued, “Importantly, the improvements in cognitive function were seen over a relatively short period of time; and, while further research is required to confirm and expand on these findings, this provides encouraging evidence that regular consumption of cocoa flavanols might be effective in improving cognitive function in elderly subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment. The findings provide promising indications that the development of novel dietary approaches for improving health as we age – especially cognitive health – is a real possibility.”

This was confirmed by scientists at the University of Oxford, UK whose findings, in their study, showed that the people who ate a diet rich in flavonols, from chocolate, wine and tea did much better in the testing than those with a low favonol consumption. It appears that when there are plenty of flavonols in your diet your risk of developing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or Stroke is considerably reduced.

Only the best quality Chocolate

However, there is a proviso here.  Only the very finest quality dark chocolate will help you in this way. To be very specific the chocolate should preferably be:

• organic
• at least 70% raw cocoa
• Low in sugar
• not processed using alkalis (as in Dutch Cocoa Powder)

Then sadly I have to tell you that you don’t need very much to help those little grey cells. Just one small piece of really delicious fine quality chocolate or a small cup of hot chocolate (top quality non-alkalised cocoa and low in sugar) is all that you’ll need to enhance brain function and fend off the potential for cognitive decline.