Dark Chocolate a Sweet Remedy for Failing Memory?

The antioxidants found in dark chocolate, which come from cocoa beans and are called cocoa flavanols, appear to reverse the subtle memory loss that comes with normal aging, according to a Columbia University study.

In just three months, test subjects regained the memory strength of a person 25 years younger.

"What we found is that 50- or 60-year-olds who consumed a high cocoa-flavanol diet had an improvement in memory. And it seemed to originate from a particular part of the brain that we know is targeted by normal aging," Dr. Scott A. Small, a neuroscientists with Columbia University Medical Center, told CBN News.

Unfortunately, the cocoa flavanols had no effect on a different part of the brain affected by Alzheimer's disease.

The study required participants to consume a drink containing 450 milligrams of cocoa flavanols, equal to what's in seven dark chocolate bars.

With that in mind, the question becomes whether it's wise to eat a lot of dark chocolate every day to reverse the natural memory loss associated with aging.

"It is true that cocoa flavanols are found in chocolate, however, in very small amounts," Dr. Small said. "Consuming a lot of chocolate is simply bad for your health, so categorically not."

Most chocolate is high in sugar and calories. The amount of cocoa flavanols in a typical dark chocolate bar is 53 milligrams. The same size milk chocolate bar provides only 13 milligrams of flavanols.

"One of the things I find appealing about the study is we're essentially suggesting that lifestyles, diet, can actually ameliorate a normal process, which I find appealing because it means we don't necessarily need a pharmaceutical agent," Dr. Small explained.

The study only followed 37 people, but based on the results, Columbia plans to replicate the research in a larger study.