Drinking café mocha can improve your attention span

At last, some good news: chocolate and caffeine are scientifically proven to be a good match.

Consuming both at the same time can lead to improved attention, according to Ali Boolani, a researcher from Clarkson University, along with researchers from the University of Georgia.

Researchers conducted a year-long study where they got different groups of volunteers to drink different combinations, including brewed cocoa, cocoa with caffeine, caffeine without cocoa, and a placebo. Participants also completed a task to test their attention levels.

The results showed that those who had both caffeine and cocoa had much lower levels of anxiety than the group who just had caffeine, and better attention levels than those who just had cocoa.

The group who just had caffeine saw no real changes to their energy or attention. However, they did find that this group were angrier after the concentration tasks.

Boolani said:

Cocoa increases cerebral blood flow, which increases cognition and attention. Caffeine alone can increase anxiety. This particular project found that cocoa lessens caffeine's anxiety-producing effects -- a good reason to drink mocha lattes.

Disclaimer: The study was sponsored by the Hershey Company, so take the results with a tiny pinch of salt. Or sprinkle of cocoa.

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