Eating Chocolate makes you Smarter

The flavonals in cocoa are being shown in study upon study to increase brain function and blood flow to key areas of the brain and it combats the effects of fatigue and sleep deprivation. Cocoa also improves cardiovascular flow; hence the energy burst many people experience after eating chocolate. The darker the chocolate the more flavonals it will contain so the darker the better. If chocolate isn’t your thing or if you are worried about packing on the pounds, then other delicious alternatives found to create the same brain boost are red wine, green tea and blueberries.

The ramifications for students are obvious.  Although a couple of glasses of red wine before an exam may be a bit dubious a nice rich dark chocolate bar and some blueberries will boost energy, brain function and alertness for just about exactly as long as the average exam. In fact most people also study in bursts of two to three hours and so the benefits will also last an entire study period. For the at home study session the wine might be a nice alternative and treat.

How and why does chocolate work to improve brain function?

Simply put the greatest advantage shown on MRI scans is an increased flow of blood to the brain after eating chocolate. Increased blood flow translates to increased oxygen with in turn becomes increased function. A compound called epicatechin is a chemical found in cocoa which is known as a flavonol. It is this chemical that is responsible for the positive brain results. A study at the Salk Institute showed that, “the combination of exercise and a diet with epicatechin also promoted structural and functional changes in the dentate gyrus, a part of the brain involved in the formation of learning and memory.”