It’s a sweet treat with even sweeter benefits… to your health, experts claim.
Eating more chocolate could help ward off the ravages of age – especially in people at greater risk of dementia, new findings suggest.
Cocoa flavonals, antioxidants found in chocolate, boost blood flow to key parts of the brain, improving memory and attention span, Italian scientists found.
And for women, snacking on a chocolate bar after a bad night’s sleep could protect against the dangers of sleep deprivation.
Scientists at the University of L’Aquila in central Italy analyzed what happens to the brain in the hours after a chocolate binge.
And they also examined the benefits eating more of the sweet treat over a long period of time.
The researchers found the brain-boosting effects of chocolate come from compounds called cocoa flavanols.
They helped boost heart health, but also increased blood flow in the brain – specifically in areas thought to be linked to age-related decline.
Study leaders Valentina Socci and Michele Ferrara said: “This result suggests the potential of cocoa flavanols to protect cognition in vulnerable populations over time by improving cognitive performance.
“If you look at the underlying mechanism, the cocoa flavanols have beneficial effects for cardiovascular health and can increase cerebral blood volume in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus.
“This structure is particularly affected by aging and therefore the potential source of age-related memory decline in humans.”
In the UK, around 850,000 people are currently living with dementia, according to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
But that number is expected to soar in the coming decades, due to an aging population.
While the study saw benefits to the brain, the researchers didn’t specifically assess dementia risk.
The researchers found eating chocolate boosted working memory.
And women gorging on chocolate after a night without sleep experienced lower levels of brain impairments – raising hopes for those suffering insomnia and shift workers.
Experiments showed that a daily hit of chocolate for elderly people improved their brain function.
Attention, mental ability, working memory and verbal fluency were all “greatly” affected and improved, the findings published in Frontiers in Nutrition found.
The benefits were most pronounced in those people who had already started to show signs of memory decline or mild cognitive impairment.
A person suffering mild cognitive impairment is at much greater risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Carol Routledge, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK urged caution, noting the study did not specifically look at dementia.
She told The Sun Online: “There is no reason to think that eating a lot of chocolate could delay the onset of diseases like Alzheimer’s.
“Current evidence suggests people can help lower their dementia risk by eating a healthy and balanced diet.
“And high levels of sugar are linked to dementia risk factors, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.”
The authors said despite these benefits, it is important to eat chocolate in moderation, and be aware of the negative health risks associated with the sweet treat.
They wrote: “Regular intake of cocoa and chocolate could indeed provide beneficial effects on cognitive functioning over time.
“There are, however potential side effects of eating cocoa and chocolate.
“Those are generally linked to the calorific value of chocolate, some inherent chemical compounds of the cocoa plant such as caffeine and theobromine.
“And a variety of additives we add to chocolate, such as sugar or milk.”
But, the best way to avoid the negatives, is to opt for dark chocolate, the researchers concluded.
“Dark chocolate is a rich source of flavanols,” they added.
“So we always eat some dark chocolate, every day.”
Well, go on then… if you say so!