Eating chocolate can increase intelligence, myth or fact?

It is widely known that eating chocolate can benefit the health of the heart and blood vessels, maintain blood pressure, reduce the risk of stroke, and even improve skin protection against sunlight. It turns out that the benefits of chocolate don't stop there, you know. Eating chocolate has also been shown to help increase intelligence. How can? Check out the explanation here.

Chocolate can improve brain performance

In a study that lasted for more than 30 years in the United States, the experts involved about a thousand participants who will be observed. The development of the cognitive abilities of a thousand participants in the study continues to be monitored.

The researchers used a test to measure the performance of the brains of the participants who ate chocolate regularly. The test includes assessment of verbal memory, visual and spatial memory, organizing, abstract reasoning, scanning and tracking, including general memory tests.

The study found that participants who ate chocolate once per week or more than once a week had higher test scores than participants who ate chocolate less than once a week.

Other studies have also found that regular consumption of chocolate can improve cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment (mild cognitive impairment), which is often a condition that can progress to dementia or senility.

So is it true that eating chocolate can make you smart?

The researchers admit that further research is still needed to understand exactly how chocolate can improve brainpower. However, experts believe that the flavonoid content which is very rich in chocolate can protect the brain from decreased cognitive function with age.

In addition, other ingredients such as caffeine and theobromine can also improve alertness and mental health. Chocolate also contains methylxanthines which can increase the ability to concentrate. These compounds are thought to increase blood flow to the brain and improve brain performance. With a good brain performance, of course a person's intelligence level will follow.

However, to get the benefits of eating chocolate for intelligence, you shouldn't choose chocolate carelessly. The problem is, nowadays there are tons of different types of chocolate available.

Always choose the darkest chocolate, for example dark chocolate. The reason is that dark chocolate contains high cocoa content and does not have a lot of added additives such as milk, cream, or sugar. The higher the cocoa content, the more flavonoids and other important compounds.

Chocolate, healthy lifestyle, and intelligence

Researchers confirm that regular consumption of chocolate is indeed beneficial for brain performance and has a protective effect against decreased cognitive function. Especially those caused by the aging process.

However, consumption of chocolate must always be balanced with an overall healthy diet and lifestyle. Most chocolates contain high enough calories and sugar, so it is necessary to consider the total calorie intake with the daily calorie needs.

In addition, intelligence is not only affected by food. There are many other factors that can shape intelligence. For example, brain health, genetic factors, and of course the business factors of each individual.