Chocolate, especially very dark chocolate, rich in antioxidants, could help mental agility by enhancing the speed and accuracy of tests that test one's cognitive functions.
This is suggested by a study in the Scientific Reports journal, based on the analysis of the effects of the consumption of a cocoa-based drink, enriched with flavonoids, natural antioxidants also present in black chocolate (the one with the most bitter taste), but especially abundant in fruit vegetables.
Conducted by experts from the University of Birmingham, the study shows that after consuming the flavonoid-enriched cocoa drink, participants do better at the mental tests they were subjected to, especially if these tests are very complicated and especially if experimentally researchers reduce the concentration of oxygen in the environment where cognitive tests are performed.
According to what has been seen with magnetic resonance, flavonoids work by improving blood circulation and oxygenation levels in the brain.
Naturally, remember the authors of the work, flavonoids are very abundant especially in fruits and vegetables, foods that are healthier than chocolate.
(HANDLE).