Just In: Postmenopausal Women May Benefit From Eating Chocolate For Breakfast

Because this was a small study, it’s not necessarily strong evidence to start your day with 100 grams of chocolate—but there’s also no real reason not to start your day with a bit of this delicious food, especially if it’s dark chocolate.

On the mindbodygreen podcast nutritional psychiatrist Drew Ramsey, M.D. posed the question: “Does dark chocolate need to be your treat, or can it be something that you have for breakfast?” According to this study, it might be OK—and Ramsey says so, too, especially if it’s organic raw cacao.

“Those flavanols [in cacao] increase blood flow to the brain. They get involved with the microbiome,” he explained on the podcast, “They are involved with short-term memory and in the areas where neurogenesis (new brain cell growth) happens in the brain.”

Some of our favorite chocolatey breakfast ideas include the buckwheat chocolate pancake recipe Ramsey shared with us, these simple double chocolate muffins, this chocolate avocado smoothie with a hidden serving of veggies, and this holistic health coach’s favorite breakfast: dark chocolate on toast.