Meltdown at work? Try eating dark chocolate to give your brain a boost

CHOCOHOLICS will be pleased to know there is such a thing as comfort eating after all.

One 50g bar of dark chocolate can ease your stress levels, put you in a better mood and even boost your brain power. A study that scanned the brains of people after eating dark chocolate found changes usually seen when someone enters a meditative state, as well as activity likely to improve memory.

The chocolate consumed was 70 per cent cacao and 30 per cent organic sugar cane, marketed as a health food.

Much research on dark chocolate finds benefits only after eating a large amount of it. But the findings, from Loma Linda University in the US, show people see results after just half a standard-sized bar. The benefits to the brain are believed to come from antioxidants it contains, in higher levels than some fruits and vegetables.

Researchers gave five people aged 22 to 40 the dark chocolate bars, totalling 40 to 50g, and scanned nine regions of their brains. Half an hour after consumption, the frequency of gamma waves in the brain, which link cells and improve connectivity, increased. They showed reduced stress and improved mood, according to the researchers. The fast, high-frequency waves also occur during cognitive processing, so may boost memory.

Dr Lee S Berk, a researcher in food science from Loma Linda University, said: ‘There appear to be beneficial effects from eating 70 per cent cocoa dark chocolate This is the first study to show the beneficial effects over time from dark chocolate after consuming such a small amount.’ A second study, also presented by Dr Berk at the Experimental Biology conference, found it boosted the immune system, based on a white blood cell count.