Memory loss and dementia can be cured by drinking a daily hot cocoa.
CBS News reported researchers found that seniors who drink two cups of hot coca a day for one month performed better on thinking and memory test than those who don't. Published in an issue of Neurology, the new study suggests that blood flow in the brain impacts thinking and memory. Brian imaging showed coca-drinkers had better blood flow in the brain.
"As different areas of the brain need more energy to complete their tasks, they also need greater blood flow," study author Dr. Farzaneh Aghdassi Sorond, an associate neurologist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a statement. "This relationship, called neurovascular coupling, may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer's."
Researchers studied 60 dementia-free individuals. Their average age was 73. They were told to drink hot cocoa daily for 30 days and not consume any other chocolate throughout the study.
After a month, MRI scans revealed individuals with blood flow problems saw more than an eight percent boost in their brain's blood circulation, according to CBS News. The study also revealed an improvement on the subject's time on memory tests. Their average scores dropped by more than 50 seconds at the end of the study.
People who had normal blood flow at the start of the study, however, did not see these benefits.
"Though more work is needed to prove a definitive causative link among cocoa consumption, vascular pathology, and cognitive decline, the present study is a remarkable first step," researchers Dr. Paul B. Rosenberg of Johns Hopkins Medicine and Can Ozan of Harvard wrote in an accompanying commentary published in the Neurology.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, more than 5.2 million people have Alzheimer's or some form of dementia in the United States. That number is expected to climb to 13.8 million by 2050.
Other ways to reduce the risk of dementia includes engaging in physical activity, getting a significant amount of sleep, doing social activities, reading and eating healthy.
Chocolate can carry vascular health benefits, CBS News reported. A previous study has linked dark chocolate to reducing blood pressure, lower risk for stroke, better cholesterol levels and benefits in people with cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment is a condition in which people struggle with memory and are at raised risk for dementia and Alzheimer's.
"I look at this as a very interesting, preliminary study," Dr. Alexander Duart Rae-Grant, acting director of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health at the Cleveland Clinic, told CBS News. "We're recognizing more and more in the field that there's an important vascular component to dementia and cognitive impairment."
