Chocolate and mental performance

Photo by Cacaobug

You might have seen this piece of news about a new study:

Scientists reveal how eating chocolate can help improve your maths
Eating chocolate could improve the brain's ability to do maths, a new study suggests.

I think I have experienced this effect. Whenever I eat several pieces of dark chocolate, it definitely seems (while I do various computer work) that my brain works faster and I'm more alert. I also think that this effect is not because of sugar, because the dark chocolate does not have high amounts and because I definitely don't feel the same if I just ate, say, a sweet apple or a cookie.

I like both chocolate and the "alert" feeling after eating it. I don't like it when I start feeling the "brain drain" (your brain can definitely get tired after several hours of researching/writing emails & blogposts/devising math problems etc.). I don't know if this effect is from flavanols in chocolate like it mentions in the study, or theobromine, or both, or also something else.

The brand I often get here is El Rey. I don't have a clue about its flavanol content; it says it's made with "rare, flavorful, coveted" Venezuelan cacao beans only. But be that as it may, the taste sure IS good!

Comments

Annette said…
I KNEW IT!!! Yet another great reason to eat chocolate :D Isn't it great when studies support our addictions? :)
I love this tip. It is always good to hear that chocolate and mental performance are related. That must be why my friend uses chocolate chips as rewards for homeschool tasks.

Julie
20 year veteran homeschooler
James said…
It is very informative eating chocolate could improve the brain's ability to do maths, a new study suggests. Actually i have listened it before but i didn't believe this. Now i think it might true and i will experiment.
ewrosla said…
I think it`s very interesting topic. I wonder if different kinds of chocolate have different abilities. Eg. does white chocolate stimulates brain better then cherry chocolate or chocolate with jelly? I think more research should be done;)
Maria Miller said…
No, white chocolate wouldn't have any of the benefits (to my understanding) because it lacks the "brown" or the cocoa part.

Also, if you add jelly or other things into it, you get less of the actual chocolate, so it won't help either. The "goody" antioxidants aren't in the fat part but in the bitter cocoa part. So you get similar benefits from flavonoid-rich cocoa powder.

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