A diet deficient in these naturally occurring compounds can lead to age-related memory loss.
Could consuming something as simple as flavanols—naturally occurring antioxidants present in foods such as green tea, apple peels, strawberries, dark chocolate, and cocoa—prevent cognitive decline as we age? According to a study published last week in the journal PNAS, the answer may be yes!
Researchers from Columbia University in New York collaborated with researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the University of Reading in the United Kingdom to study the effects of flavanols and multivitamins as an ancillary part of a larger study called COSMOS (COcoa Supplements and Multivitamin Outcomes Study), which was funded in part by Mars Edge, a nutrition-focused initiative within Mars, Incorporated, the National Institutes of Health, and the Nathaniel Wharton Fund. The goal of the study was to examine whether dietary flavanol improved memory function in older adults and whether this memory improvement was restricted to those with lower flavanol levels.
Related Reading: COSMOS Study Shows Cocoa Flavanols Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Death by 27%