I mentioned dark chocolate benefits last time and now another new study from the University of the Incarnate Word in Texas has found that a bit of dark chocolate also seems to improve vision.
Because previous studies have shown that the flavonols in dark chocolate help increase blood flow to the nervous and cardiovascular system, researchers wondered if the eyes might benefit from chocolate, too.
To find out, they had 30 healthy young volunteers eat either a 1.5-ounce Trader Joe's 72 percent Cacao Dark Chocolate bar or a similar-sized Trader Joe's Crispy Rice Milk Chocolate bar. The labels were removed so they wouldn’t know what chocolate they were eating.
About two hours later, they had their vision tested using standard eye charts.
And they found that compared to the people who ate the milk chocolate, the people who had the dark chocolate showed a small, but significant improvement in visual acuity and large-letter contrast.
The study author speculates that the improvement may be d/t increased blood flow to the retina from the antioxidant flavonoids in the dark chocolate.
I don’t think you’ll be able to throw away your glasses, but if you’re going to eat chocolate, you might want to make it dark.
This is Joan Trimble wishing you wellness.
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