There has been a great deal of interest in the potential for dark chocolate to help lower blood pressure. Now it seems as if eating dark chocolate can also help to stimulate your brain. Northern Arizona University reported, eating dark chocolate may help you beat the midday slump.
Larry Stevens, who is a professor of psychological sciences at Northern Arizona University, says he eats a piece of high cacao content chocolate daily because he likes the taste of unsweetened dark chocolate. He eats some dark chocolate every afternoon also because research has shown that it lowers blood pressure and it improves attention. This becomes of great importance when you hit that midday slump.
Stevens says chocolate is a stimulant which activates the brain in a really good way. Chocolate can help to increase brain characteristics of attention while also significantly affecting blood pressure levels. The most interesting results in this study were seen with one of the control conditions wherein a 60 percent cacao chocolate included L-theanine. L-theanine is an amino acid which is found in green tea that behaves like a relaxant. This combination of chocolate with L-theanine.has not yet been introduced to the market.
Stevens said L-theanine is a really interesting product which decreases blood pressure and produces what are called alpha waves in the brain that are very calm and peaceful. The researchers observed participants who ate the high cacao content chocolate with L-theanine experienced an immediate decrease in blood pressure. The potential seen is for a heart healthy chocolate confection which contains a high level of cacao with L-theanine which decreases blood pressure and helps you pay attention.
This study was sponsored by the Hershey Company and has been published in the journal NeuroRegulation. This is the first study to investigate the acute effects of chocolate on attentional characteristics of the brain via observing acute EEG effects of consuming chocolate. The potential for an attention enhancing effect from consuming dark chocolate is remarkable. Eating some delicious dark chocolate daily may really help you to maintain a low blood pressure and an alert and attentive mind.
