Says Mathew Pase, a PhD candidate at Swinburne University, who led the research study: “Anecdotally, chocolate is often linked to mood enhancement. This clinical trial is perhaps the first to scientifically demonstrate the positive effects of cocoa polyphenols on mood.”
So how can consuming dark chocolate make one calmer and more contented with life? This is because of the presence of polyphenols in dark chocolate. Naturally available in plant sources, polyphenols form the most basic parts of our diet. It has been shown that polyphenols play an active role in stress reduction.
A group of 72 people in the age group of 40 – 65 years
took part in this study. They were randomly split into three groups and each group was given a dark chocolate drink, which they had to consume once per day for a period of thirty days. However, the first group was given 500mg of cocoa polyphenols, the second group was 250mg of cocoa polyphenols, and the third group was given 0mg of cocoa polyphenols. Since the drinks were packaged the same way, the participants were not aware of the quantity of polyphenols they were consuming.
After 30 days, it was found that the first group of people reported increase in feelings of contentedness and calmness. The second and the third groups did not report any changes. The study has not found evidences that polyphenols can enhance cognitive performance.
Barry Callebaut funded this
research study, the results of which was published this year in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, May issue.
