Cocoa stimulates intellectual abilities

A U.S. study showed an improvement in intellectual capacity among elderly people who drank hot chocolate. Interesting results for research on Alzheimer's disease.



Once again , and to our delight , cocoa reveals its qualities . We already knew that chocolate was good for the skin , helping to burn fat , had cough and vasodilatory effects . A study by the team of Dr. Farzaneh Sorond of Harvard Medical School , published in Neurology, adds that cocoa can also offset a slight decline in cognitive abilities in the elderly .

" While the brain represents only about 2% of the total weight , it consumes more than 20% of oxygen and energy of the human body ," says Dr. Paul Rosenberg , a specialist in Alzheimer's disease in the Johns Hopkins school of Medicine in Baltimore, a commentary accompanying the publication. When we use our brains , our neurons need energy to function. To meet this demand , blood flow increases in the brain to make glucose. "This relationship is called neurovascular coupling may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer's," said Dr. Sorond .

Promising research

The study was conducted with two objectives : to observe the relationship between the neurovascular coupling and cognitive function , and the effect of cocoa on them . Two cups of hot chocolate a day for a month : that the draconian What protocol respect the sixty test subjects , mean age 73 years, with no signs of dementia. Doppler examinations were performed to observe the blood flow in the middle cerebral artery of subjects when subjected to simple cognitive tests. The result is pretty conclusive : in people with impaired neurovascular coupling during testing on day 1 , hot chocolate therapy has improved by 8.3%. In contrast , no significant change was observed in subjects without this alteration .

"Despite the need for further work to definitively prove the causal link between the consumption of cocoa, vascular disease and cognitive decline , this study is a remarkable first step ," says Dr. Rosenberg . Bruno Cauli , a neurobiologist at the CNRS , said meanwhile that "the results are interesting, but they are still preliminary. The team focused on the middle cerebral artery , large caliber , while rather neurovascular coupling for small arterioles that plunge into the brain. It 's still a little hungry . "

The controversial effects of flavanols

Research on the benefits of cocoa is particularly interested in the effects of flavanols , which many positive effects are attributed. Previous experiments had shown a link between these components and the blood flow in the brain. For its study , the team of Dr. Sorond separated two groups according to the amount of cocoa flavanols consumed. To the surprise of scientists, the results were similar . " The previous responses we observed with flavanol- rich cocoa were not perhaps due to flavanols , but other components of the cocoa. It is also conceivable that the regulation will be so sensitive that the poor low -flavanol chocolate drinks suffices to improve the neurovascular coupling , " she explains . Future research of Dr. Sorond will seek to identify and test the component.

Studies on the chocolate does not have the sole purpose of proving its benefits. No need for this research to make us consume . But ultimately, they could lead to preventive medicines or treatments for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Research on neuro- vascular coupling is a promising track. Meanwhile, nothing prevents snacking a small square - or two - just for fun .