Summary: According to researchers, cocoa flavanols could have a neuroprotective effect. In a recent study, researchers found enhancements in working memory and improved visual information processing in participants who had taken cocoa flavanols. Additionally, women who ate cocoa products reported less cognitive impairments following sleep deprivation.
Source: Frontiers.
Italian researchers review the available literature and come to a promising conclusion: cocoa can be seen as a dietary supplement to protect human cognition and can counteract different types of cognitive decline.
A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands – a phrase commonly used to justify ones chocolate snacking behavior. A phrase now shown to actually harbor some truth, as the cocoa bean is a rich source of flavanols: a class of natural compounds that has neuroprotective effects.
In their recent review published in Frontiers in Nutrition, Italian researchers examined the available literature for the effects of acute and chronic administration of cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains. In other words: what happens to your brain up to a few hours after you eat cocoa flavanols, and what happens when you sustain such a cocoa flavanol enriched diet for a prolonged period of time?
Although randomized controlled trials investigating the acute effect of cocoa flavanols are sparse, most of them point towards a beneficial effect on cognitive performance. Participants showed, among others, enhancements in working memory performance and improved visual information processing after having had cocoa flavanols. And for women, eating cocoa after a night of total sleep deprivation actually counteracted the cognitive impairment (i.e. less accuracy in performing tasks) that such a night brings about. Promising results for people that suffer from chronic sleep deprivation or work shifts.
It has to be noted though, that the effects depended on the length and mental load of the used cognitive tests to measure the effect of acute cocoa consumption. In young and healthy adults, for example, a high demanding cognitive test was required to uncover the subtle immediate behavioral effects that cocoa flavanols have on this group.
The effects of relatively long-term ingestion of cocoa flavanols (ranging from 5 days up to 3 months) has generally been investigated in elderly individuals. It turns out that for them cognitive performance was improved by a daily intake of cocoa flavanols. Factors such as attention, processing speed, working memory, and verbal fluency were greatly affected. These effects were, however, most pronounced in older adults with a starting memory decline or other mild cognitive impairments.
And this was exactly the most unexpected and promising result according to authors Valentina Socci and Michele Ferrara from the University of L’Aquila in Italy. “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.”
So should cocoa become a dietary supplement to improve our cognition? “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 caloric 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.”
Nonetheless, the scientists are the first to put their results into practice: “Dark chocolate is a rich source of flavanols. So we always eat some dark chocolate. Every day.”
Source: Melissa Cochrane – Frontiers
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Full open access research for “Enhancing Human Cognition with Cocoa Flavonoids” by Valentina Socci, Daniela Tempesta, Giovambattista Desideri, Luigi De Gennaro and Michele Ferrara in Frontiers in Nutrition. Published online
May 16 2017 doi:10.3389/fnut.2017.00019
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Frontiers “Chocolate and Cocoa Aren’t Just Treats, They Are Good For Cognition Too.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 29 June 2017.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/cognition-chocolate-7002/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Frontiers (2017, June 29). Chocolate and Cocoa Aren’t Just Treats, They Are Good For Cognition Too. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved June 29, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/cognition-chocolate-7002/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Frontiers “Chocolate and Cocoa Aren’t Just Treats, They Are Good For Cognition Too.” https://neurosciencenews.com/cognition-chocolate-7002/ (accessed June 29, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
Enhancing Human Cognition with Cocoa Flavonoids
Enhancing cognitive abilities has become a fascinating scientific challenge, recently driven by the interest in preventing age-related cognitive decline and sustaining normal cognitive performance in response to cognitively demanding environments. In recent years, cocoa and cocoa-derived products, as a rich source of flavonoids, mainly the flavanols sub-class, have been clearly shown to exert cardiovascular benefits. More recently, neuromodulation and neuroprotective actions have been also suggested. Here, we discuss human studies specifically aimed at investigating the effects of acute and chronic administration of cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains, such as executive functions, attention and memory. Through a variety of direct and indirect biological actions, in part still speculative, cocoa and cocoa-derived food have been suggested to possess the potential to counteract cognitive decline and sustain cognitive abilities, particularly among patients at risk. Although still at a preliminary stage, research investigating the relations between cocoa and cognition shows dose-dependent improvements in general cognition, attention, processing speed, and working memory. Moreover, cocoa flavanols administration could also enhance normal cognitive functioning and exert a protective role on cognitive performance and cardiovascular function specifically impaired by sleep loss, in healthy subjects. Together, these findings converge at pointing to cocoa as a new interesting nutraceutical tool to protect human cognition and counteract different types of cognitive decline, thus encouraging further investigations. Future research should include complex experimental designs combining neuroimaging techniques with physiological and behavioral measures to better elucidate cocoa neuromodulatory properties and directly compare immediate versus long-lasting cognitive effects.
“Enhancing Human Cognition with Cocoa Flavonoids” by Valentina Socci, Daniela Tempesta, Giovambattista Desideri, Luigi De Gennaro and Michele Ferrara in Frontiers in Nutrition. Published online
May 16 2017 doi:10.3389/fnut.2017.00019