A Guide to Boosting Brain Power: Eat More Chocolate!!

To most people chocolate is ambrosia. The food of the Gods! This sweet treat has great power over humans! It has the power to make you feel great when you're feeling down to give you energy during the 4:00pm energy crash. But, did you know that little piece of chocolate could also boost brain power as well? Yes. It is the flavanols in the cocoa that stimulates the brain. A study made at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia discovered dark chocolate, milk chocolate and carob effects concentration, response time, and recall.

The study shows to boost your mental performance you should eat 8 grams of chocolate, which equates to two
chocolate bars. Students consuming two chocolate bars will boost their word and image recall as well as increase performance in specific tasks such as taking standard computer tests or studying.

The best chocolate to eat is:

Dark chocolate- has antioxidants that fight heart disease, with many stimulants, including caffeine and theobromine, which enhance the brain activity for a small amount of time. It boosts blood flow to areas of the brain for two or three hours.

Milk chocolate- Low in antioxidants however it has stimulants like sugar, which makes you're brain move faster.

White Chocolate- has no cocoa color, which means no antioxidants. The fat and sugar is sweet and wonderfully has empty calories. Yeah!

Carob- eaten mostly for low-fat, high fiber diets; has sugar and is caffeine-free. However, it doesn't have any antioxidants.

Ian Mcdonald, a professor of metabolic physiology at the University of Nottingham conducted another experiment where he gave volunteer students a drink consisting of rich in flavanols cocoa drink. It resulted in the volunteers having a higher level of activity in specific areas of the brain resulting in more energy and brain power. The cause was the flavanols in the cocoa that linked to blood vessels allowing more blood and oxygen to flow to key elements of the brain.

These studies have also shown a surprising fact that the ingredients in chocolate can also be used in treating vascular disorders such as dementia, strokes, and maintain cardiovascular health. The study also goes on to say that the ingredients in a piece of chocolate can also be used to fight fatigue, sleep deprivation and possibly even more important the effects of ageing. (Possibly, they are still researching this). It is also found that flavanols with a high level of cocoa can also be found in red wine, green tea and even blueberries.

So, the next time you go shopping, stock up on red wine, green tea, blueberries, and chocolate. You'll feel better, smarter and be possibly younger too. Imagine that!