Choc boost for body and brain

TWO NEW studies published recently found that consuming a little dark chocolate can help boost physical as well as mental performance.

In a study out of Kingston University in the UK, Rishikesh Kankesh Patel and his team split nine cyclists into two groups to look at the effect of dark chocolate on athletic performance.

Participants in the first group replaced one of their normal daily snacks with 40g of dark chocolate for a two-week period, while the control group substituted their daily snack with 40g of white chocolate.

The test results showed that after two weeks of eating dark chocolate, the participants’ sports performance had improved: they used less oxygen in one cycling test, and covered more distance in another.

Patel believes that the performance-boosting effects of dark chocolate are thanks to epicatechin, a flavanol found in the cacao bean, which increases nitric oxide production in the body.

It gives a similar exercise boost as beetroot juice, already consumed by athletes to improve performance.

In another study published in the journal Appetite, researchers from the University of Maine, University of South Australia and Luxembourg Institute of Health found that eating chocolate can also improve cognitive function.

The team looked at data from 968 participants aged 23-98 and found that those who ate chocolate at least once a week performed better on cognitive tasks than those who ate chocolate less frequently. – AFPRelaxnews