Eat dark chocolates to turn back the clock on ageing

Winding back the clock has never been so delicious! A team of researchers has found that dark chocolates can reverse ageing.

Oxidative stress and inflammation increase with aging and are thought to play an important role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

In the study, researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine show that the epicatechin, a flavanol found in foods such as dark chocolate, reduced damaging oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in a mouse model of aging.

Just two weeks of treatment with epicatechin not only suppressed levels of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation that would normally be increased in this mouse model, but also improved memory and anxiety levels in the mice.

The researchers say their results may help explain the beneficial effects on memory seen in people who consume dark chocolate.

Israel Ramirez-Sanchez will present this research at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics annual meeting on April 24.