Dark chocolate improves memory in snails

Testing the effects of a single compound on human memory can be difficult, so when Lee Fruson, an undergraduate at the University of Calgary, wanted to test the effect of the dark chocolate flavonoid epicatechin, he decided to use the pond snail, which at baseline can remember only one trained task at a time.

Research procedures
In low-oxygen environments, pond snails release tubes above the water's surface to draw in extra oxygen. In the study, they were conditioned not to do so, with occasional gentle taps whenever their breathing tubes rose over the pond water. At baseline, a half hour of procedure trained the snails not to use their air tubes for up to three hours.

The study took an interesting turn when Fruson added 15 mg of epicatechin to the water. One day later, the snails in the epicatechin water still remembered not to use their breathing tubes, while the control group always broke after about three hours. When Fruson decided to overwrite this memory to test its strength, the control group snails broke immediately, while the epicatechin snails refused to lift their breathing tubes, suggesting that even days later, they still remembered that doing so may result in an uncomfortable tap.

Possible benefits of dark chocolate
Other studies show that dark chocolate may help the body ward off oxidation damage to cells. A 2005 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed large increases in insulin sensitivity and decreases in blood pressure following short-term administration of flavonoid-rich dark chocolate to healthy adults, suggesting that dark chocolate intake might even be useful in warding off diabetes. Patients with type 2 diabetes may also want to buy Actos, and a number of medications for high blood pressure and diabetes are also available from Canadian and international online pharmacies.

Beyond the potential for having positive effects on memory, further research shows evidence that dark chocolate may also lower the risk of stroke for both sexes. During the study, published in the journal Neurology, two ounces of dark chocolate per week resulted in a 17 percent lower chance of experiencing a stroke.