Two weeks ago, we had the privilege of visiting Le muse gourmand du chocolat. The gourmet chocolate museum provided insight into the 4000-year-old history of cocoa. I didn’t only enjoy the abundance of free samples scattered throughout the museum but also learning about the origins and evolution of chocolate. This museum was the home of decadent chocolate structures such as a 5-foot chocolate Eiffel tower which is shown in the picture. Not only did we get to learn about rich world of chocolate, but we also had the opportunity to make our own chocolate. We made little praline filled chocolate stars in the workshop and were able to take a bag home!
The museum contained various items from the 1800’s when cocoa was used as a form of medicine. I thought this was so interesting because we currently see chocolate as a form of junk food and a treat that should be avoided when considering a healthy diet. However, not all chocolate are terrible for you; for example, dark chocolate has been recognized as having some health benefits similar to red wine. This could be because of the higher cocoa content in dark chocolate compared to other types. The health benefits of cocoa have been studied in recent years in regard to improved cognitive function.
A study completed by Karabay et al. (2018) looked at the effects of cocoa flavanols on attention, specifically temporal and spatial. They conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo and baseline-controlled crossover experiment on 48 university students (Karabay et al. 2018). Their results showed a reduced reaction time indicating an improved visual search efficiency. This represents an improved spatial attention; however, there was no observed effect of cocoa flavanols on temporal attention. Even though the data obtained on spatial attention was significant, there was not a dose dependent relationship with the concentration of cocoa and the observed effect. This leads us to believe that cocoa flavanols do not have as large of an impact on attention than we thought. Even though the results in this study are questionable, research on the effects of cocoa on cognition is a hot topic for future research.
Even though the data obtained may not be all that significant, a little dark chocolate as a study snack every once in a while will still be my go to. I can only hope that the cocoa flavanols are somewhat improving my cognition.
References:
Karabay, A., Saija, J., Field, D., & Akyürek, E. (2018). The acute effects of cocoa flavanols on temporal and spatial attention. Psychopharmacology, 235(5), 1497-1511. doi: 10.1007/s00213-018-4861-4