Cocoa Compound Staves Off Memory Loss

Compounds found in cocoa beans, which are used to make chocolate, may reverse the normal age-related memory decline seen in healthy older adults, researchers say. If further studies support the new findings, researchers could one day produce an off-the-shelf dietary supplements of cocoa flavanols aimed at improving people's mental function, said study author Scott Small, a neurologist at Columbia University in New York. Flavanols are naturally found not just in cocoa beans, but in tea leaves and in certain fruits and vegetables well. A recent study in mice found that flavanols increased the number of connections among neurons in the dentate gyrus. Read More http://ift.tt/1DkQGYr