With the festive season of Christmas approaching, a latest Oxford research gives us all the good news that the consumption of chocolate, wine and tea apparently enhances cognitive performance! We have all the more reason to celebrate.
Researchers from Oxford’s Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and Norway analyzed around more than 2,000 older adults, aged from 70 to 74. The researchers evidently wanted to evaluate the link between cognitive performance and the consumption of three common food materials with flavonoid content; chocolate, wine and tea.
Apparently, numerous studies are being conducted on the function of micronutrients in age-related cognitive decline. It’s stated that fruits and beverages like tea, red wine, cocoa and coffee are evidently major dietary sources of the micronutrients found in plant-derived foods, polyphenols.
Along with a variety of cognition tests, the participants filled out questionnaires related to their habitual food intake. Apparently, people consuming tea, wine and chocolates showed a significant higher scores and lower prevalence of poor cognitive performance, as compared to their non-consuming counterparts.
It’s stated that the biggest dietary polyphenols sub-class is flavonoids. Supposedly, it’s even stated earlier, that a lot of flavonoids consumption is linked with lower chances of dementia.
Evidently, these findings agree with this theory. Having said this, the researchers also state that a more refined evaluation needs to be conducted in order to prove that flavonoids consumption has made that difference, and not some other food source. Supposedly, wine’s effect was the most pronounced.
The researchers say that moderate alcohol consumption can be linked with an enhanced cognitive function, along with less vulnerability to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. However, they also warn that heavy alcohol consumption could contribute to the cause of dementia, among other health related problems.
Their findings are published in the Journal of Nutrition.