Drinking hot chocolate could prevent ALZHEIMER by boosting blood flow to the brain

Drinking or eating a modest amount of good quality dark chocolate has for years now been thought to be good for you. Once digested the body releases chemicals into the bloodstream that fed the pleasure centre of the brain making you feel good. Now new research has discovered that hot chocolate drinks have a similar effect on the brain and may help in the treatment of dementia and Alzheimers.

Drinking just two cups of cocoa a day has been found to boost memory capacity in the elderly by boosting blood flow to the brain by around eight percent. The study was conducted by the respected Harvard Medical School whose lead author was Dr Farzaneh Sorond, “We’re learning more about blood flow in the brain and its effect on thinking skills. As different areas of the brain need more energy to complete their tasks, they also need greater blood flow. This relationship, called neurovascular coupling, may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer’s.”

The results of the Harvard Medical School were published in the noted journal Neurology and were based on a survey of 60 people with an average age of 73 who did not have dementia. Each of the volunteers was told to drink two cups of hot cocoa a day for a month but not to consume any additional chocolate products. At the beginning and end of the trial period their memory and thinking skills are tested and compared. Almost a third saw an increase in blood flow and a corresponding increase in memory and thinking skills.