Scientists at the University of Birmingham in the UK and the University of Illinois in the US have discovered that the flavanols in cocoa improve brain function in young healthy adults, including blood flow and cognitive performance. In addition, they are beneficial for the rapid recovery of health from mild vascular disease. This is reported in an article published in Scientific Reports.
The double-blind study, which consisted of two experiments, involved 18 volunteers. In the first trial, people got cocoa rich in flavonols, and in the second, cocoa that was low in flavonols. However, neither the participants themselves nor the experimenters knew what type of cocoa the subjects received in each of the trials. Two hours after consuming cocoa, the participants breathed air with 5 percent carbon dioxide, which is about a hundred times the norm.
An increased concentration of carbon dioxide leads to an increase in blood flow in the vessels of the brain, which allows the body to get rid of carbon dioxide more efficiently and increase the level of oxygen supply to tissues. Using functional near infrared spectroscopy, the scientists measured the oxygen saturation of the blood in the frontal cortex, which plays a key role in planning, regulating behavior and making decisions. In addition, the volunteers had to solve complex mental problems.
It turned out that the use of flavonols increased oxygenation threefold and accelerated it by one minute. In this case, participants performed better on complex cognitive tests, solving them 11 percent faster. There were no significant differences in four volunteers, but their level of oxygenation was quite high at baseline.
