Can eating a chocolate bar every day really pr age-related memory loss? People would say 'No'．Can eating chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner be good for your heart? Again, they would say 'No' , because that would be too good to be true．But new research shows that large amounts of flavanols(黄烷醇), substances found in cocoa(可可), tea and some vegetables, may reverse age-related memory failure．Another study is looking to see if high levels of cocoa flavanols can help pr heart attacks and strokes．Flavanols found in dark chocolate are known to increase blood flow in the part of the brain that controls memory．They also help pr heart disease by lowering blood pressure and ' bad' cholesterol (腱固醇)．A new study published online found that cocoa flavanols reverse minor memory loss in older s．Dr．Scott Small, a professor at Columbia University, is the lead writer of a research paper describing the effects of cocoa flavanols on brain activity．The study involved 37 volunteers aged between 50 and 69．Researchers gave them a high-level flavanol drink made from cocoa beans or a low-level flavanol drink．For a period of three months, some subjects got 900mg of flavanol a day while the others got 10mg．Brain imaging and memory tests were given to each subject before and after the study．Dr．Small says that the subjects who had the high-level flavanol drink showed much improvement on memory tests．The researchers warn that more work is needed because this study was performed on a small group．Researchers at Womens Hospital in Boston recently announced plans to do just that.
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