Drink two cups of cocoa a day, and it helps you keep the memory, the scientists said.A study conducted on a group of 60 elderly people who are not suffering from dementia, found that cocoa improves blood flow to the brain.
Those patients in whom the blood supply healed better than others passed tests for memory performance at the end of the study, said in an article published in the journal Neurology.
According to experts, however, need further research before making a final conclusion that using cocoa can prevent age-related memory loss.
The impact of cocoa on the vascular system became the focus of research in the past. Researchers believe that the impact of cocoa on blood vessels associated with the work of natural antioxidants - flavonoids - contained in the cocoa bean.
Scientists who conducted a recent study asked 60 people, whose average age was 73 years old, drink two cups of cocoa a day. One group was given cocoa rich in flavonoids and other items - low cocoa flavonoids.
For the purity of the experiment both groups were forbidden to eat chocolate.
To drink or not to drink
Ultrasound examinations at the beginning of the experiment recorded the circulatory disturbances in the brain in 17 patients.
Regardless of the amount of cocoa flavonoids, improved blood flow at 88% of patients. At the end of the experiment, the test results are improved work memory. Among those who at baseline blood flow was normal, the results have improved by only 37%.
Studies using MRI revealed that in 24 cases of people with impaired blood flow is likely to have also a very small brain damage.
"We learn more about the blood flow in the brain and its impact on the thinking," - said the head of research, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School Farzaneh Sorond.
"Some areas of the brain takes more energy to carry out their tasks, so they need more blood. This vegetative communication can play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer's disease "- believes Sorond.
The researchers said that about the same effect on brain activity in cocoa flavonoids rich and poor can be explained by the fact that the real impact on the brain has any other component of the drink, or the fact that antioxidants are needed only in small amounts.
"Treatment of cocoa, probably in time become very popular, but to draw any conclusions about its effectiveness is still too early - warns the head of research at the charity Alzheimer # 39; s Research UK Simon Ridley. - One of the drawbacks of this study is the lack of a control group for comparison, and we can not say what would be the result if the participants do not drink cocoa. "
"Problems with vessels are a known risk factor for the development of dementia. A knowledge of the relationship between the vessels and brain health can only help to search for new methods of treatment and prevention of [disease], "- he explains.
