Unleash brainpower with dark chocolate

Dave Barry once said: “Your hand and your mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain.” While that may be witty, we’re sorry, Dave, scientifically speaking, it’s completely wrong.

A study in Scientific Reports reveals that when healthy adults consume flavanol-rich cocoa found in cocoa powder and dark chocolate (70 percent cocoa is best), their brain gets a major boost from increased oxygenation, and they have measurably improved cognition.

For the experiment, researchers served 3 ounces of flavanol-rich cocoa powder in 10 ounces of room-temperature water. You could enjoy 3 ounces of dark chocolate or cocoa powder in oat milk. Milk chocolate and cocoa powder that is Dutch-processed or alkalized doesn’t have enough of the flavanols to increase your brainpower.

Participants who consumed the dark cocoa saw three times more oxygen delivered to their brain than those who consumed low-flavanol cocoa. And the well-oxygenated folks correctly solved challenging cognitive tests 11 percent faster than they did before they had the flavanol boost.

So read labels carefully to make sure you’re getting cocoa powder that’s not Dutch-processed or alkalized.

While we’re talking about improving brainpower: In our column on herd immunity, we said hepatitis B and C had vaccines when we meant A and B. Think we need to eat more dark chocolate!

ED and diet

The sitcom “Mister Ed” ran from 1958 to 1966 and told the tale of a talking horse who fully participated in the life of his human keepers and friends. Mister Ed: I’m attending college because I want a PH.D. Wilbur (his owner): PH.D.? Mister Ed: Palomino Horse Doctor.

Clearly Ed didn’t see many obstacles before him. And if you guys don’t want ED (erectile dysfunction) to be an obstacle in your life, well, a new study says you should go for a PH.D. too — that’s a Pretty Healthy Diet!

Researchers recently mined 16 years of data on more than 21,000 healthy men ages 40 to 75. They found that guys who ate a diet that emphasized vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and fish or other sources of omega-3 fats, and avoided red and processed meat lowered their risk of developing ED by about 20 percent.

The study, published in JAMA Open Network, urges men of any age who are concerned about their risk for ED to adopt that healthy eating style.