Study: A Bite Of Dark Chocolate Can Boost Memory Within 1 Hour

If you needed another reason to nibble on dark chocolate, here’s a fun one: scientists found that the bitter compounds in cocoa may give your brain a quick memory boost. In a study from Japan, mice who consumed flavanols, the molecules that give dark chocolate its slight mouth-pucker, performed better on memory tests within an hour, thanks to a burst of alertness-related brain chemicals. The effect seems to come not from digesting the chocolate, but from the taste signaling the brain to wake up and focus. It’s still early research, the doses were high, and human tests are needed, but the idea that a tiny taste can flip on your brain’s spotlight is deliciously intriguing.