Dark chocolate's effect on the brain

If you enjoy the finer things in life, you may already know that science says some of the things we might consider guilty pleasures—like dark chocolate and peanut butter—actually deliver quite a few health benefits.

At JOJO’s Chocolate, we’re all about guilt-free living. We think you should be able to savor what makes you happy without feeling any tinges of badness. And we want to help you do exactly that. 

So we thought we’d highlight a specific way that dark chocolate is great for you. Here is a deep dive on the way dark chocolate interacts with your brain. 

What Studies Show

Let’s give a shoutout to all of the scientists doing studies on dark chocolate. This is the science we need! (Okay, maybe we don’t need it, but we definitely want it.) 

And, good news, the multitude of studies on this topic show that dark chocolate isn’t only not bad for your brain, but it actually delivers things to help it function its best. 

Don’t take our word for it. If you want to do your own digging on the topic, here are links to scientific studies you can explore:

• In this study, dark chocolate increased blood flow to your gray matter. 
• In this study, dark chocolate supported improved cognitive function (along with lowered blood sugar and insulin resistance, which helps your body maintain proper blood sugar levels).
• This other study also showed improvements in cognitive function among test subjects who consumed dark chocolate and milk chocolate. 
• This study showed that the genes involved in neural signaling were more responsive after consuming dark chocolate, especially after study subjects consumed it for a week.
• This study showed that dark chocolate improves neuroplasticity, or your brain’s ability to form new connections so you can learn new things. 

Clearly, the science is there. But if you’re not feeling up to processing all of that data, let’s simplify this down a bit. 

Dark Chocolate + Your Brain = Benefits

Across our research, we found that dark chocolate consumption linked to the following benefits for your brain:

• It improves memory
• It improves reaction time
• It increases blood flow and oxygen levels, supporting brain health
• It supports healthy nerve function and neuroplasticity, allowing your brain to function its best
• It helps you solve cognitive challenges
• It can counteract the cognitive impairment that comes after a bad night’s sleep
• It improves your mood by increasing the production of endorphins and serotonin
• It promotes brain cell health, which is especially important in people with a high risk of dementia 

So, whenever you do dig into some dark chocolate, you can enjoy it guilt-free knowing you’re doing right for your brain.

And to really help you savor that chocolate, we’ve developed great-tasting, low and no-sugar dark chocolate options for you. That way, you can get the brain benefits of dark chocolate without the health risks of sugar. 

Make dark chocolate a part of your routine (it’ll be a hard habit to develop, we know 😉) and your brain will be better for it.