Alternative Health Blog

In a cross-sectional study involving 2,031 male and female subjects between the ages of 70 and 74 years, consumption of flavonoid-containing chocolate, wine, and tea was found to be associated with superior cognitive performance, as compared to subjects who did not consume these three common flavonoid-containing foods. Subjects who consumed these 3 foods had the best test scores and the lowest risk of poor performance. Furthermore, chocolate and wine were both independently dose-dependently associated with cognition, with the maximum effect found at 10/g chocolate and 75 mL/d wine. The association between tea consumption and cognition was found to be linear. The authors conclude, "Thus, in the elderly, a diet high in some flavonoid-rich foods is associated with better performance in several cognitive abilities in a dose-dependent manner."
 
Reference:
"Intake of flavonoid-rich wine, tea, and chocolate by elderly men and women is associated with better cognitive test performance," Nurk E, Refsum H, et al, J Nutr, 2009, 139(1): 120-7. (Address: David Smith, Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing and Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, OX1 3QX Oxford, United Kingdom. E-mail: david.smith@pharm.ox.ac.uk ).