Can you can help reverse age related memory loss with chocolate

If you are over 60 yrs old drinking Cocoa every day  could give you the same memory as when you were 30 years old

 

As people age, they typically show some decline in cognitive abilities, including learning and remembering such things as the names of new acquaintances or where one parked the car or placed one's keys. This normal age-related memory decline starts in early adulthood but usually does not have any noticeable impact on quality of life until people reach their fifties or sixties. Age-related memory decline is different from the often-devastating memory impairment that occurs with Alzheimer's, in which a disease process damages and destroys neurons in various parts of the brain, including the memory circuits.

The  study, 37 healthy volunteers, ages 50 to 69, were randomized to receive either a high-flavanol diet (900 mg of flavanols a day) or a low-flavanol diet (10 mg of flavanols a day) for three months. Brain imaging and memory tests were administered to each participant before and after the study. The brain imaging measured blood volume in the dentate gyrus, a measure of metabolism, and the memory test involved a 20-minute pattern-recognition exercise designed to evaluate a type of memory controlled by the dentate gyrus.

The study found noticeable improvements in the function of the dentate gyrus in those who consumed the high-cocoa-flavanol drink," said lead author Adam M. Brickman, PhD, associate professor of neuropsychology at the Taub Institute.

The high-flavanol group also performed significantly better on the memory test. If a participant had the memory of a typical 60-year-old at the beginning of the study, after three months that person on average had the memory of a typical 30- or 40-year-old.

Curcumin the active component of turmeric has also been found to support working memory and alertness. An optimised curcumin is now available in the product Blackmores Brain Active.

I think I will take the Brain Active capsules and have some chocolate, I don't think curried chocolate will go down well.

Reference

Judy Pa, Adam Gazzaley Flavanol-rich food for thought Nature Neuroscience 17, 1624–1625 (2014) doi:10.1038/nn.3876 Published online 21 November 2014

#memory #ageing #cocoa #Alzheimer’s