Chocolate and mental performance

Photo by Cacaobug

You might have seen this piece of news about a new study:

Scientists reveal how eating chocolate can help improve your maths
Eating chocolate could improve the brain's ability to do maths, a new study suggests.

I think I have experienced this effect. Whenever I eat several pieces of dark chocolate, it definitely seems (while I do various computer work) that my brain works faster and I'm more alert. I also think that this effect is not because of sugar, because the dark chocolate does not have high amounts and because I definitely don't feel the same if I just ate, say, a sweet apple or a cookie.

I like both chocolate and the "alert" feeling after eating it. I don't like it when I start feeling the "brain drain" (your brain can definitely get tired after several hours of researching/writing emails & blogposts/devising math problems etc.). I don't know if this effect is from flavanols in chocolate like it mentions in the study, or theobromine, or both, or also something else.

The brand I often get here is El Rey. I don't have a clue about its flavanol content; it says it's made with "rare, flavorful, coveted" Venezuelan cacao beans only. But be that as it may, the taste sure IS good!

Math Teacher's Carnival

This week's edition is posted at I Want to Teach Forever blog.

CurrClick has a Spring sale

Discounts vary up to 75% off in CurrClick's Spring sale for all kinds of downloadable products (this includes all school subjects).

Math Mammoth titles at Currclick are discounted too.