NUTRITION
Chocolate
Several studies suggest that dark chocolate from favanol-rich cacao beans may enhance blood flow to central and peripheral nervous systemsBenefits
- Improve cardiovascular function
- Retard memory loss and other signs and symptoms of degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases
- Cacao flavanols in dark chocolate have antioxidant effects that retard and partially reverse degenerative changes in various diseases
- Dark chocolate consumption also has been associated with enhanced mood and cognition
- Short-term improvement in contrast sensitivity was observed after consumption of dark chocolate and attributed to increased blood flow, although direct evidence is lacking
- Moreover, the effect of dark chocolate on other visual functions remains unknown. A randomized, clinical study to assess effects of dark chocolate vs milk chocolate within 2 hours of consumption on multiple aspects of vision enhancements in visual acuity and large-letter contrast sensitivity after dark chocolate ingestion were small. The findings reported suggest that a single dose of dark chocolate improves visibility of small, low-contrast targets within 2 hours compared with milk chocolate, but the duration of this difference and clinical relevance remains uncertain.
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