Hi, I'm Earl. Product Manager at Eat Dark Chocolate When Studying
Recently, I took the SAT, January 23rd, 2010, to be exact. It was a jolly-fun time. It may just be me, but I like the SAT. It’s an intriguing challenge that forces you to think logically and analytically. To me, the SAT is like a game to be beaten. One of the intrinsic challenges about the SAT is that the test requires 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete. There may be a break after every hour of testing, but the test becomes a game of pertinacity.
Luckily, the College Board allows test-takers to eat snacks during break times, as long as they eat outside of the testing room. I, being a devoted, health-conscious foodie, planned ahead and researched what food I should bring. I needed a portable, quickly-devour-able food that would not distract me during testing but help me concentrate.
The answer to my refueling needs arrived in the form of dark chocolate. I had already known that dark chocolate is healthy when eaten in moderation due to the high amount of flavonoids in it. Flavonoids act as antioxidants and fight aging; it lowers blood pressure and cholesterol. However, I also learned that dark chocolate helps you concentrate because of the caffeine present in it. The low amount of refined sugars in dark chocolate also prevents it from causing snackers to crash after consuming it. I decided to test out the effects of dark chocolate by eating a small 10.6g piece of 86% dark chocolate while practicing for the SAT. I waited until I was tired and sleepy to eat the decadent, rich treat. From my judgement, dark chocolate does help improve concentration! I was alert for over an hour after eating the dark chocolate.
Acording to a study by WebMD, dark chocolate “may lower levels of stress hormones in people feeling stressed out.”
Lesson learned, I will now frequently eat dark chocolate when attacking daunting academic tasks. It’s a win-win situation! Eat well, study hard.
