Eating chocolate has rarely been discouraged, and now a new study suggests that eating chocolate can help us lose weight, even if we don’t get off the couch. In addition to reducing bad cholesterol. But everything has a small print and this research makes it clear what type of chocolate and the amounts.
Chocolate has gone through different states, from being a delicacy, to being prohibited due to its high sugar content, but we must be clear that there are different types of chocolate and the most important data that we must know is the percentage of cocoa.
You always have to avoid chocolate bars and milk chocolate bars and other additives. The best option is pure cocoa and tablets with at least 70% cocoa , and if they have nuts such as almonds, the better.
Research indicates that dark chocolate with 70% or more cocoa is very rich in flavonoids , which, in turn, is a compound linked to a lower risk of heart problems. There are also studies that show that pure cocoa reduces blood pressure and insulin resistance.
Something similar was already published in the Journal of the American Heart Association several years ago, where they had introduced dark chocolate and raw almonds in the diet of obese people. This resulted in the participants lowering their bad cholesterol without leaving the couch.
Other research carried out in the last decade suggests that this food improves blood flow in the brain and various cognitive benefits such as improved memory , better test performance, faster information processing, better mood, etc.
There are also skeptical experts and they believe that the evidence of pure cocoa is still scarce, even so, a new study has just come out that reveals new benefits of cocoa in relation to cardiovascular health.
In the International Journal of Exercise Sciences you can read how a small amount of plain chocolate after dinner helps you lose weight at rest.
The experiment was carried out with women and lasted 28 days. What we wanted to see was how pure cocoa influenced energy expenditure during rest and exercise.
During the investigation, 18 physically fit women were selected and placed in one of two groups. One group was given 20 grams of plain chocolate for 28 days to drink after dinner, and the other group was given an equivalent amount (in calories) of white chocolate as a placebo.
During the 28 days, the two groups recorded their energy expenditure at rest and exercising. In the end, the group that ate black cocoa registered a 10% increase in their metabolism compared to the opposite group that did not change anything.
Regarding energy expenditure during intensive exercise sessions, the study determines that there was no change. The caffeine in cocoa is what caused the metabolism to increase at rest, but 4 ounces of bitter cocoa is too little to achieve such significant results, the researchers say.
The study concludes that it was most likely flavonoids that increased the rate of metabolism and that future studies may find a relationship between plain chocolate and weight loss.
