EASTER – Confinement or not, Easter celebration or not, the time to skip the chocolate will not happen. While, of course, purchases of Easter eggs and various chocolates will be reduced as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, the benefits of consuming chocolate are still valid.
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Boosting the brain and memory, or reducing the risk of depression, are all phenomena that have been demonstrated by scientific studies.
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In May 2016, researchers from the universities of Adelaide, Australia, Maine, the United States and the Luxembourg Health Institute showed in a study published in the journal Appetite that weekly consumption (at least once) of chocolate was associated with better cognitive performance.
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Around 1000 people were asked in the 1970s about their eating habits, and therefore their consumption of chocolate. Between 2001 and 2006, the researchers analyzed the data. As a result, those who ate chocolate at least once a week passed cognitive tests better than others. Among the intellectual capacities observed, visual memory or even reasoning.
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Better memory
For these scientists, it is thanks to the flavonoids present in cocoa that this link between chocolate and cognitive abilities can be explained. These molecules are found in coffee or tea. It is not specified in the study but the stronger the chocolate in cocoa, the more it is rich in this molecule, so it is the dark chocolate that should be favored.
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In the same vein, researchers have looked specifically at the link between chocolate and memory. Published in the journal Nature in 2014, this study shows that here too, flavonoids are taken into account. Here, one of the two groups of participants aged 50 to 69 years drank a concentrated solution of flavanol for three months. At the end of the test period, the blood flow increased sharply in a part of the brain linked to the decline in memory: the dentate gyrus. This means, for Scott Small, one of the authors of the study, that “if a participant had a memory of a sixty-something person at the start of the test, after three months, this same person found a memory of someone older between 30 and 40 ”. Don’t get too excited, though: the drink taken by the participants is the equivalent of four and a half bars of chocolate.
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Mental Health
Another study, another positive effect. Published in August 2019 in the journal Depression and Anxiety, it shows that the risk of depression is reduced by the consumption of dark chocolate. Canadian and English scientists at University College London have analyzed the chocolate consumption of more than 13,000 Americans. Their conclusion is that people who regularly eat dark chocolate were 70% less likely to be affected by depression. Other factors, such as smoking, physical activity, weight, etc., were taken into account to ensure that they had no impact on depressive symptoms.
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However, more studies will be needed to confirm this link. As lead author of this study, Sarah Jackson points out, “depression may cause people to lose interest in chocolate, or other factors may make people less likely to eat dark chocolate and to be depressed ”.
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Cardiovascular illnesses
The benefits of chocolate are not limited to the brain. Some researchers have for example demonstrated a correlation between its consumption and the reduction of cardiovascular diseases. The study, published in the journal Heart (BJM) in 2018. After observing the consumption of chocolate by 25,000 English people, the researchers observed a link between this and being less affected by cardiovascular diseases. But, because there is often a but, it is only a correlation and not a cause and effect link. Other factors such as age or sport could explain this lower propensity to develop cardiovascular disease, as underlined Sciences and Future.
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Finally, be careful though. If chocolate has virtues, it should not be abused. Besides cocoa, it should not be forgotten that chocolate is a sweet product. As such, we can savor it, but in moderation.
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See also on The HuffPost: 6 reasons to eat chocolate every day
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