Just over a month ago, I wrote an article about the health benefits of dark chocolate. Some of these benefits included improved brain function, lower risk of heart disease and lower blood pressure.
Well, now a new study has found an extra benefit to eating dark chocolate that scientists were previously unaware of – improved vision.
The recent study, which shows it could also improve eyesight, has been published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.
The study looked at the visual acuity of 30 participants over a three-month period from June to August 2017.
Scientists discovered that adults who ate a bar of dark chocolate saw a significant increase in visual clarity and contrast sensitivity in the two hours after consumption.
The scientists measured visual acuity and the ability to read letters of different sizes and contrast (lighter vs darker letters) about two hours after eating chocolate.
However, the results were limited by the fact that researchers did not know how long the effects lasted.
“Contrast sensitivity and visual acuity were significantly higher two hours after consumption of a dark chocolate bar compared with a milk chocolate bar, but the duration of these effects and their influence in real-world performance await further testing,” the study concludes.
While the immediate implications and the reasons for the improvement were not known, researchers argued that it could be linked to the effect dark chocolate has on improving blood flow. The retina, which is the sensory receptor for vision, is very rich in blood flow.
Do you think your diet has an impact on your vision? Does this study further encourage you to switch to eating dark chocolate?
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The healing powers of dark chocolate
Chocolate reduces heart risk
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