How Chocolate Benefits Your Brain

The latest research into cocoa and how chocolate benefits your brain will have you jumping for joy!  I for one, can say I read this news about chocolate with MEGA-EXCITEMENT! Because…

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ I LOVE CHOCOLATE! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Yes, I do, I really really do. Did I say I love chocolate? 🙂

It’s the one craving that I haven’t been able to kick completely, and it’s because I frankly don’t want to.

I mean, why bother living if you can’t have chocolate once in a while. It’s one of life’s greatest pleasures!

So, the good news to share with you guys is this recent research about how eating chocolate can actually make you smarter.

Yep… I’m a friggen genius! LOL
It’s the latest development in ongoing research that looks at the relationship between cocoa flavanols – the seemingly magical antioxidants found in bitter foods – and cognitive performance. Read more…

The researchers tracked 1000 people for 30 years. They looked at a multitude of things in all the participants, including, but not limited to, heart disease, diet, high blood pressure, and how much chocolate they each ate.

What they found was that the people who ate the most chocolate actually performed better on cognitive tests.

We found that those who ate chocolate at least once per week (or more), performed better on multiple cognitive tasks, compared to those who ate chocolate less than once per week,” says Dr Georgie Crichton, who led the study. Read more…

Why Does Chocolate Boost Your Brain Power?

The doctors who analyzed the data concluded that the reason that chocolate boosts a person’s brain power is because of the high amount of flavonols found in bitter dark chocolate. The study did not say; however, what the actual percentages of chocolate, light versus dark, were consumed. Just that the participates regularly ate chocolate. At any rate, there has been enough scientific data around to prove that flavonols boost brain power.

SO what does this mean to you? Well, it’s not a license to go out and raid the candy aisle and start eating snickers bars for breakfast lunch and dinner! NO NO NO….

What you can do though is to add dark chocolate to your diet, in reasonable doses! Aim for dark chocolate that is more than 70% cacao, 72% or high is actually even better. You can find these types of chocolate-lover bars everywhere nowadays. Trader Joes has lots of them, and all health food stores as well as lots of grocery stores too.

The higher the percentage of cacao, the more “bitter” the chocolate will be.

What I like to do is to buy organic raw cacao and organic raw cacao nibs and use them in my smoothies. They add a super rich depth of chocolate flavor to smoothies especially! Especially when combined with a delicious fat, like coconut oil for example.

You can check out some of my favorite chocolate smoothie recipes here:

Raw Cacao Powder: Easy Chocolate Almond Milk

Chocolate Protein Shake For Weight Loss

Dark Chocolate Benefits

So start enjoying your dark chocolate without guilt. Remember, life is to be lived and enjoyed. It’s not about deprivation, it’s about finding “Balance” and all things in moderation, and you’re gonna be just fine!

To Your Health!

Laura.