Chocolates for health

Do you love chocolate? Who does not? If you were hunting for an excuse to bite into a slab of chocolate, there is a perfect new reason. A new study suggests that a natural compound found in cocoa, tea and some vegetables can reverse age-related memory loss. Regardless of whether you love chocolate or tea or both of them, this is one reason to continue your habit.

The possible health benefits of chocolate stem from the antioxidant flavonoids. Chocolate comes from the cacao plant, and cacao is extraordinarily rich in flavanols, a type of flavonoid phytochemical. (Other plants rich in flavanols include tea, grapes, grapefruit, and wine). The findings suggest that the flavanol compound increases connectivity and, subsequently, blood flow in a region of the brain critical to memory, researchers say.

The study - published online in Nature Neuroscience has found that flavanols reverse mild memory loss in older adults. Using brain scans and memory tests, the latest study built on previous work showing that flavanols extracted from cocoa beans had improved neuronal connections in mice's dentate gyrus, a part of the brain involved in memory formation.

While you will have to eat a lot of solid chocolate to get enough quantities of this substance to boost your memory, it may be better to drink hot cocoa. The researchers have warned that the compound found in cocoa exists only in minuscule amounts in the average chocolate bar compared with the amount used in the study, so eating chocolate in the name of health and improving one's memory could backfire. A typical chocolate bar contains about 40 milligrams of flavanols. Most cocoa-processing methods in use today remove many of the flavanols found in cocoa and this research may spur manufacturers to raise the flavonols content in chocolate bars and cocoa drinks.

Connectivity

The compounds appear to enhance connectivity and metabolic activity in the dentate gyrus. Ageing appears to reduce the synapses, or connections, between neurons in that part of the brain. They said that even more importantly, the new study offered the first direct evidence that memory deteriorated with age because of changes in the dentate gyrus, a region of the hippocampus of the brain. Previous studies had shown a link between changes in this region of the brain and normal, age-related memory loss.

The study has offered more evidence that diet and healthy lifestyles that increased blood flow to the brain could slow or reverse age-related cognitive decline.The study involved 37 healthy subjects aged from 50 to 69. On a random basis, they were given either a high-flavanol diet, consuming 900 milligrams a day, or a low flavanol diet, consuming 10 milligrams per day.

Brain scans, which measure blood volume in the dentate gyrus, and memory tests were used to evaluate the effect of the diet. Researchers said that if a person had the memory of a typical 60-year-old at the beginning of the study, after three months, on average, that person's memory would function more like that of a 30-year-old or 40-year-old person.

That is a level of memory that most older persons would aspire to have. Of course, there are older people who have very sharp long term and short term memories without essentially having any so-called memory boosters.

In a separate study, scientists at Harvard Medical School suggested that drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day could keep the brain healthy and prevent memory decline in older people. The researchers said that hot chocolate can help preserve blood flow in working areas of the brain. The lead author Farzaneh A. Sorond, said: “As different areas of the brain need more energy to complete their tasks, they also need greater blood flow. This relationship, called neurovascular coupling, may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer's.”

Version

Boosting memory is not the only health benefit of cocoa and chocolate. If you prefer to eat slabs, it is better to get the dark version, which is richer in cocoa than milk. So stick to healthy chocolate with at least 70 percent cacao (or cocoa, which is cacao in its roasted, ground form). As long as the content is that high, says Mary Engler, Ph.D., a professor of physiological nursing at the University of California at San Francisco, you can reap the benefits from eating only small amounts. Because of its high fat and sugar content, you have to limit yourself to about four dark chocolate bars a week.

The recent discovery of biologically active phenolic compounds in cocoa has changed the bad press about chocolate and stimulated research on its effects in ageing, oxidative stress, blood pressure regulation. Chocolate is also lauded for its tremendous antioxidant potential. The potential benefits of eating chocolate are said to include: lowering cholesterol levels, preventing cognitive decline, and reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems. Research published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) has suggested that consuming chocolate could help lower the risk of developing heart disease by one third.

The report was presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris, France. Canadian scientists carried out a study involving 44,489 people and found that people eating chocolate were 22 percent less likely to suffer a stroke than those who didn't. In addition, those who had a stroke but regularly consumed chocolate were 46 percent less likely to die as a result.

However, some of the other ingredients in chocolate such as sugar, butter and milk are not all that healthy when taken regularly.

Chocolate has a high calorie count, containing large amounts of sugar. The large amount of sugar in most chocolates can also be a cause of tooth decay. Chocolate has gained a bad reputation because of its fat content, and its excess consumption has been associated with acne, obesity, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and diabetes.

More studies will be needed to confirm all these toured benefits of chocolates and flavanols, which are found in several other beverages and foods as well. In the meantime, you might just be able to have your quota of dark chocolates without feeling any guilt.