[ENG]Objectives: The aim of this research was to evaluate the effects of adding 10 g of cocoa-rich
chocolate (99%) to the habitual diet on cognitive performance in postmenopausal women.
Methods: Following a randomised controlled parallel clinical trial, a total of 140 postmenopausal
women aged 50–64 were recruited. The intervention group (n = 73) consumed daily 10 g of
chocolate (99% cocoa) in addition to their usual food intake for 6 months, whereas the control
group (n = 67) did not receive any intervention. Attention and executive functions, verbal
memory, working memory, phonological fluency, category fluency and clinical variables were
assessed at baseline and 6 months.
Results: Trail Making Test B execution time showed a decreased of −12.08 s (95% CI: −23.99, −0.18;
p = 0.047) in the intervention group compared to the control group, after adjusting for age,
educational level, time elapsed from the beginning of menopause and daily energy
consumption (Cohen’s d = −0.343). Attention, immediate or delayed verbal memory,
phonological or category fluency, and working memory remained unchanged.
Conclusions: The consumption of cocoa-rich (99%) chocolate in addition to the habitual diet could
be related to a slight improvement in cognitive performance regarding cognitive flexibility and
processing speed in postmenopausal women, with no changes in the rest of the cognitive
performance variables evaluated.
Trial registration: This clinical trial has been registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03492983.
