Consuming a small amount of chocolate at the beginning of the day can have unexpected benefits
Daily consumption of milk chocolate may sound like a “recipe” for weight gain, but a new study in postmenopausal women comes to a different conclusion. According to this, the consumption of chocolate with a high content of cocoa, within the first hour of waking up in the morning, contributes both to the burning of fat and to the reduction of blood sugar levels of these women.
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To complete the study, researchers from Brigham UTAH University in US worked with colleagues from the University of Murcia in Spain to determine the effects of consuming chocolate at different times of the day. They conducted a randomized, controlled, and cross-sectional study of 19 postmenopausal women who consumed 100 grams of chocolate either in the morning (one hour after waking up) or in the evening (one hour before bedtime) and compared the variability of their weight , their lipids, their blood sugar, while at the same time they recorded a number of other parameters related to their metabolism.
The researchers then reported that the following were observed among the women studied:
- Chocolate intake (either in the morning or in the evening) did not lead to weight gain.
- Consumption of chocolate (either in the morning or in the evening) can affect hunger and appetite (reduction), sleep (improvement), as well as the composition of the intestinal microbiome.
- Eating chocolate in the morning helped burn body fat as well as lowering blood sugar levels.
- Eating chocolate at night improved night rest and boosted metabolism. Concluding, Frank Scheer (Neuroscientist Ph.D, MSc,) a member of the research team stated:
“It follows from the above that the physiopathological mechanisms involved in the metabolism and regulation of our body weight are affected not only by “what” we eat but also by “when” we eat it, during the day “.
Source: Brigham University UTAH Gynecology Clinic