Mild Cognitive Impairment: Chocolate and Memory

In Vol 17, No 10 of The Natural Path, we featured a newly recognized condition called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Seniors with MCI may have trouble with memory and thinking that is not serious enough to cause the real problems of Alzheimer’s Disease.

In that article, we described the research that shows that drugs offer no benefit to the 42% of seniors that are affected by MCI but that natural remedies do. The natural remedies that have been shown to work are the combination of B6, B12 and folic acid and the great memory herb Ginkgo biloba.

Now, new research adds a delicious new natural benefit to the list: chocolate. . . .

A double-blind study gave 90 people with MCI a chocolate drink containing 900mg of flavanols (high flavanol), 520mg of flavanoids (intermediate flavanol) or 45mg of flavanols (low flavanol) for 8 weeks.

On two tests of cognition, the high flavanol and intermediate flavanol groups improved significantly, while the low flavanol group did not. Composite cognitive scores improved in the high and intermediate flavanol groups but not the low flavanol group.

The researchers concluded that flavanols found in dark chocolate benefit people with MCI, especially processing speed, executive function, language and working memory.

So add dark chocolate to the vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid and the herb Ginkgo biloba for the mild cognitive impairment that is so common in old age.

Hypertension 2012;60:794-801