The question researchers started asking was simple:
If we could nudge that nitric oxide system back to life, could we help the aging brain get its blood flow back?
And the strange bean that is helping thousands regain the sharp, quick-thinking mind they thought they'd lost.
You walk into the kitchen and stop dead - why did I come in here?
A name you've known for twenty years sits right on the tip of your tongue but won't come out.
Mid-sentence in a meeting, the younger guy jumps in and finishes your thought before you can.
None of it is dramatic. But it adds up. And quietly, you've started to wonder if this is just how it goes from here...
That "slow" feeling usually has far less to do with your age than with something much easier to fix:
How much oxygen-rich blood is actually reaching your brain.
Your brain is only about 2% of your body weight, yet it demands roughly 20% of your blood supply and oxygen.
When the oxygen and blood delivery runs at full strength, thinking feels effortless.
When it dips, the first things to suffer are exactly the things people over 50 complain about:
Word recall, focus, quick processing, that feeling of mental "sharpness."
The inner lining of your blood vessels has one job:
To tell vessels when to relax and widen so blood can flow where it's needed.
It does this using a signaling molecule called nitric oxide.
As you age, that wall makes less nitric oxide - Your blood vessels don't open as easily, so less blood reaches your brain.
It's not a disease. It's plumbing. And plumbing is something you can support.
If we could nudge that nitric oxide system back to life, could we help the aging brain get its blood flow back?
It turns out one of the most studied triggers of your own nitric oxide system isn't beetroot or a drug.
It's a family of compounds called flavanols found in raw cocoa beans.
Unlike beetroot, which gives a slight temporary nitric oxide boost.
Flavanol-rich cocoa has been shown in human studies to help your own body make more nitric oxide.
Allowing blood vessels to relax and widen long-term.
Epicatechin from high-flavanol cocoa enters the bloodstream.
It tells the vessel walls to release more nitric oxide, the body's own "widen" signal.
Blood vessels dilate, and flow becomes more responsive.
More oxygen-rich blood reaches working brain regions - including memory centers.
The result people describe: clearer, quicker, less "foggy" thinking.*
That "slow" feeling usually has far less to do with your age than with something much easier to fix:
How much oxygen-rich blood is actually reaching your brain.
Your brain is only about 2% of your body weight, yet it demands roughly 20% of your blood supply and oxygen.
When the oxygen and blood delivery runs at full strength, thinking feels effortless.
When it dips, the first things to suffer are exactly the things people over 50 complain about:
Word recall, focus, quick processing, that feeling of mental "sharpness."
The inner lining of your blood vessels has one job:
To tell vessels when to relax and widen so blood can flow where it's needed.
It does this using a signaling molecule called nitric oxide.
As you age, that wall makes less nitric oxide - Your blood vessels don't open as easily, so less blood reaches your brain.
It's not a disease. It's plumbing. And plumbing is something you can support.
If we could nudge that nitric oxide system back to life, could we help the aging brain get its blood flow back?
It turns out one of the most studied triggers of your own nitric oxide system isn't beetroot or a drug.
It's a family of compounds called flavanols found in raw cocoa beans.
Unlike beetroot, which gives a slight temporary nitric oxide boost.
Flavanol-rich cocoa has been shown in human studies to help your own body make more nitric oxide.
Allowing blood vessels to relax and widen long-term.
COSMOS Trial (21,442 participants):
27% lower risk of cardiovascular death in the cocoa flavanol group (500 mg/day)
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Sansone et al. 2015:
450 mg/day cocoa flavanols improved endothelial function within 2 weeks
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Balzer et al:
30 days of flavanol cocoa increased baseline vessel inner wall function by 30%
While i can't promise that Flavoa High Flavanol Cocoa is still available as you're reading this, the last time we checked, Dr. Javier Morales was offering a special deal—Buy 2, Get 1 Free!