Cocoa can turn you into a real hotshot...
Compound in drink boosts brain
AS the winter nights draw in, sometimes there’s nothing nicer than a cup of comforting cocoa to warm you up.
And now there’s extra reason to pour a mug – as it turns out drinking cocoa can actually make you smarter.
Researchers have found that people given a cocoa drink containing high levels of flavanols – a nutrient found in plants – were able to complete cognitive tests more efficiently.
This could be because flavanols help boost the blood circulation, meaning the brain has more oxygen, they say.
The nutrient, naturally found in cocoa, grapes, apples, tea and berries, is already known to benefit cardiovascular health. But a team from the University
Performed task 11% quicker
of Birmingham were keen to find out whether it also made any difference to brain function.
They asked 18 healthy male participants aged between 18 and 40 to complete cognitive tests on two occasions – once after having a cocoa drink containing high levels of f l avanols, and another after having a cocoa drink which had been processed to contain a lower amount of the nutrient.
The test involved looking at colour words and naming the colour of the ink the words were printed in – al s o known as t he Stroop task. For example, i f the word ‘ r ed’ was written in blue ink, then ‘ bl ue’ would be t he correct answer.
Results, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found people performed t he mental t ask 11% quicker and more accurately after they had drank the cocoa containing high levels of flavanols.
However, this was only observed when the mental tasks r eached a certain level of speed and difficulty.
Dr Catarina Rendeiro, lead author of t he study, said: ‘ We used cocoa in our experiments, but flavanols are extremely common in a wide range of fruit and vegetables. By better understanding the cognitive benefits of eating these food groups, as well as the wider cardiovascular benefits, we can offer improved guidance to people about how to make the most of their dietary choices.’ The findings also revealed that blood oxygen levels were much higher in people after having the enriched drink. Dr Rendeiro added: ‘Our results showed a clear benefit for the participants taking the flavanolenriched drink – but only when the task became sufficiently complicated.
‘We can link this with our results on improved blood oxygenation–if you’ re being challenged more, your brain needs improved blood oxygen levels to manage that challenge.’
The study says the same level of flavanols as that used in the enriched drink could be achieved through eating food such as cocoa, apples, blackberries, green tea and red wine.
The amount of flavanols found in cocoa powders varies widely. Powders that are less processed and more natural will contain more flavanols – but are likely to taste bitter.