Natural cocoa is one of the foods richest in polyphenols, a group of chemicals found in some plants which are characterized in 2 groups: flavonoids and isoflavones, which in turn have numerous antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and vasodilative properties very beneficial to health. Likewise, its large contribution of nutrients, more than 50, makes it a very good source of plant energy, fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and many minerals. Interesting? With all this number of properties and benefits make natural cocoa is a perfect food for the good development of cognitive function and neuroplasticity in young adults.
And this is how María Ángeles Martín, Luis Goya and Sonia de Pascual-Teresa, a group of researchers from the Institute of Food and Nutrition Science and Technology (ICTAN-CSIC) demonstrate after a systematic review published in the journal Nutrients. This research paper concludes that the consumption of natural cocoa either in a timely manner as widespread over time, can have positive effects on various cognitive processes.
Similarly, other studies in several countries had already demonstrated the effects of natural cocoa on care and memory in children and adolescents thanks to its high concentration of polyphenols. But the lack of comprehensive studies on the effectiveness of natural cocoa in brain processes in the age group of young adults is the main concern, among others, of which the need to carry out this review arises, as well as to summarize the existing conclusions on the effects of natural cocoa intake on cognitive functions and brain health in this age group. This is the first time that this beneficial effect has been demonstrated in this population group.
In order to carry out the study, eleven intervention research was taken into account in which a total of 366 young adults with an average age equal to or less than 25 years of age participated. After consumption of flavonoids present in cocoa, there is also an increase in blood flow and brain oxygenation. In addition, continued cocoa intake is associated with higher levels of neurotrophin.
All this can have a positive impact on the future for dietary strategies to be put in place in the implementation of plant-based flavonoid strategies and thus improve brain oxygenation and cognitive performance in both healthy and higher-risk people (smokers, hypertensives, diabetics, older adults) or to prevent neuronal damage associated with aging or other environmental agents such as pollution.
Natural cocoa, the food with the most flavonoids
Cocoa and fruit are the most important sources of flavonoids in the diet of children and adolescents, representing almost 60% of their total intake. Fruit provides more than 30%, while cocoa provides 28% of the total. Although consumed in smaller quantities, cocoa is the food with the highest concentration of flavonoids, as highlighted in a study conducted by researchers from the Chair of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Barcelona and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute in Barcelona.
Sonia de Pascual-Teresa explains that only natural cocoa preserves all its properties and to increase the content of polyphenols in our diet can usually be included in breakfast fruit and a glass of milk with natural cocoa.
Not all types of cocoa are the same. Natural cocoa is the only one that preserves all its nutritional, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, as it has not undergone any chemical process.