Proven: drinking hot chocolate makes you smarter
Nothing is as cozy as warm cocoa on icy cold days, right? A dollop of whipped cream on top and you're ready for the winter vibes. It turns out that hot chocolate is actually quite good for you. Chocolate milk with a high content of the substance flavonoid is said to have a beneficial effect on the brain, report British researchers. Now, this substance is also found in vegetables and fruits, but still, also in chocolate. And that's good news.
Slimmm
It has been researched in science. I love that, because then you at least know for sure that it is so. Or well, at least some evidence has been found. During the study, 18 people aged between 18 and 45 were offered a glass of chocolate milk twice with a two-week interval. One glass contained chocolate milk with a high flavonoid content and the other glass contained a low content of the substance. But the participants knew nothing, just as the researchers did not know when they drank which glass exactly. This way, the results could not be influenced by a bias: that you want to see what you think you are going to prove and therefore see it that way. while it might not be the case at all, you could say. Then your own prejudices get in the way. After drinking the hot cocoa, the participants got to work with various intelligence tests.
Look at that
Well, the research. What do those two groups show? That 11 percent of the people after drinking the ‘high’ drink performed the intelligence test tasks faster than the rest. That's more than it would be coincidence, which is why the researchers could draw the nice conclusion: hot chocolate is good for your brain. Or well, at least you get a temporary boost from it. ‘Our results show a clear advantage for the participants who consumed the flavonoid-enriched drink, but only when the task became more complicated,’ says lead researcher Catarina Rendeiro to the site Science Codex. ‘When you are challenged more, your brain needs a higher oxygen level in the blood to tackle the challenge. It suggests that flavonoids can be particularly useful during cognitively demanding tasks.’
I already said: nothing is as cozy as in that harsh cold drinking warm cocoa together. Now you have an extra good excuse for it: you’re welcome.
