Eating chocolate reduces stress, right?

Researchers say eating dark chocolate can change the frequency of your brain waves, providing benefits in improving memory and reducing stress.

Most sweet lovers know that dark chocolate can be a healthy food. This sweet treat is packed with fiber and antioxidants, which help prevent cell damage caused by free radicals. It may also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, improve blood flow, and lower blood pressure.
Recently, a study from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine in California presented last month at the Experimental Biology 2018 annual meeting, sheds more light on the benefits of dark chocolate in relation to its effects. on brain waves, memory and recall.
Dr. Lee Berk, associate dean of research at the School of Allied Health Professions at Loma Linda University, along with her researchers, used 48-gram dark chocolate bars made from 70% nuts. cocoa from Tanzania.
Berk told Healthline: "What we've shown is that consuming antioxidants has the potential to change brain frequency - a type of beneficial brain frequency known as gamma." “The gamma frequency is tuned, enhanced, turned on by the antioxidants found in chocolate.”
Brain waves have many different frequencies, similar to a radio. The gamma frequency is the highest frequency and is "associated with the highest for cognitive processing, memory, and recall," explains Berk.
As the Big Think website explains, gamma waves deal with complex functions such as processing information, improving memory, and reducing stress.
The positive effects - or increased neuroplasticity, as the researchers say - that eating dark chocolate can affect the brain in as little as half an hour.
“In this particular study presented, we were able to show that after subjects consumed... a chocolate bar with 70% cocoa, after 30 minutes they had an increase magnitude of gamma frequencies in a major area of ​​the brain - that is the back area of ​​the brain and the right side of the brain. The increase in gamma wave frequency was trapped for several hours.
Berk said: “We continued to monitor the test subjects and after two hours we were still able to observe - albeit a reduction - gamma frequencies are present” that it's likely that one of the benefits of dark chocolate is to fine-tune cognitive processes as they wear out.
Berk explains: “As humans, we tend to lose cognitive processes - that is to say we don't think as well as we would like over time.“As we age, we lose our optimal cognitive thinking, processing, memory and recall abilities.” He added: "If dark chocolate can really raise gamma frequencies, we could benefit."

A short lesson on cocoa and chocolate may be helpful to understand the full implications of this study.
Cocoa beans are found inside the cocoa fruit. This is a oval-shaped fruit that grows on trees in hot climates such as Central America, South America, and Africa.
And, technically chocolate is made from a fruit. In fact, many other fruits and vegetables are also rich in antioxidants, such as spinach, beets, raspberries, strawberries, goji berries and of course, kale.
Cocoa beans are harvested from the inside of the fruit, then dried and fermented. This material is eventually converted into cocoa liquor or cocoa butter.
Raw cocoa can be consumed on its own or used in baking, usually in the form of small pieces known as cocoa bars.
To turn raw cocoa into a chocolate bar, cocoa liquor and cocoa butter are combined with sugar and milk.
Dark chocolate, milk chocolate and other types of chocolate taste different, depending on the amount of alcohol, butter and milk in different proportions. Alternatively, flavors such as citrus or mint can be added.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't have a definite limit on what's inside dark chocolate, so the use of this term in marketing and branding by confectionery companies has general part.
But typically, anything that contains more than 70% cocoa would be considered "dark chocolate" and that is the ratio used in Berk's study.

Berk explains in human research “with potential clinical applications, chocolate is the most desired food in the world – that is, everyone seems to crave chocolate.” In other words, people will always eat dark chocolate. Therefore, health benefits and their applications are always concerned and applied in practice.
“Here we have a food that is not only delicious – very desirable – but also has amazing health-sustaining antioxidant properties,” he says. “Dark chocolate — which contains about 70 percent cocoa — is incredibly high in antioxidants, so it's incredibly beneficial,” says Berk.
He also notes that chocolate's effectiveness surpasses that of blueberries, cherries and other fruits or vegetables that contain antioxidants. If you can handle the bitterness better, the higher the cocoa percentage the better.
Jessica Cording, a registered dietitian in New York, explains: “85% cocoa is what a lot of healthcare practitioners recommend. Simply put, a higher cocoa percentage means less sugar.
“With 85%, you get more cocoa and less cane sugar. So you can get a lot of the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory benefits back without a lot of the negative consequences of that added sugar,” she tells Healthline.
However, even dark chocolate contains sugar, so that should count towards the nutrient content when consumed.
“I think chocolate can absolutely be part of a healthy diet, even if you eat it every day,” continued Cording. “But the dose determines the poison, so to speak – or the ingredients inside that matter.”
According to Cording, one to two ounces of dark chocolate daily is usually what experts recommend. But the calories from this daily dish should be used in moderation. “You should make sure that the type of chocolate you are consuming matches your daily nutritional needs and daily calorie needs,” she explains. “That way you can both enjoy it and get the health benefits without the many negative effects of adding extra calories during the day.”
Please regularly follow Vinmec website (www.vinmec.com) to update useful health care information and leave information when you need medical advice and support!

References: livescience.com, healthline.com