If you have a sweet tooth, chocolate is likely a great fix. But did you know that dark chocolate may be fixing or improving your health, too? Previous studies showed dark chocolate can benefit blood flow, mood, and cognition. In 2018, researchers sought to add to that list and find potential benefits for your vision. Published in JAMA Ophthalmology, their research showed the short-term effects of milk chocolate vs. dark chocolate on vision.*

What they did

Thirty participants with no history of eye disease consumed milk and dark chocolate at separate times and days. Participants were unaware of what type of chocolate they were consuming each time. After approximately 1.75 hours, participants were assessed on: 

• Visual acuity, which measures your ability to recognize smaller and smaller letters on a standard eye chart
• Contrast sensitivity, which measures your ability to distinguish between finer and finer increments of light versus dark

What they found

Among the 30 participants, researchers found:

• Small-letter contrast sensitivity was significantly higher after consumption of dark chocolate versus milk chocolate.
• Large-letter contrast sensitivity was slightly higher after consumption of dark chocolate versus milk chocolate.
• Visual acuity improved slightly after both dark chocolate and milk chocolate.

What it means

While this study shows more vision benefits with dark chocolate than milk chocolate, the duration of these effects and their influence on real-world performance needs further investigation. Researchers believe more studies on the actual mechanism of what leads to visual improvement could be helpful.

At just a few days away from Valentine’s Day, the American Academy of Ophthalmology encourages everyone to show their eyes some love with dark chocolate.

*Rabin, J. C., Karunathilake, N., & Patrizi, K. (2018). Effects of Milk vs Dark Chocolate Consumption on Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity Within 2 Hours. JAMA Ophthalmology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6145773/

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