According to new research conducted in postmenopausal women, eating a concentrated amount of chocolate at a specific timeframe in the morning can help the body burn fat and lower blood sugar levels.
Due to its high fat, sugar, and calorie content, milk chocolate has a name for promoting weight gain. Chocolate consumption has been linked to long-term weight gain in a dose-dependent manner, particularly in postmenopausal women, who are more prone to fat gain.
However, a meta-analysis of randomized clinical studies found that chocolate supplementation for a period of time (ranging from 2 to 24 weeks depending on the experiment) has no effect on body weight or fat distribution.
The study was carried out by Brigham Women’s Hospital researchers in partnership with researchers from the University of Murcia in Spain. They gave 19 postmenopausal women 100g of chocolate in the morning, within an hour of waking up and at night. Weight gain and other health markers were compared within 1 hour after going to bed.
The findings were published in The Faseb Journal in the name, ‘Starting the day off with chocolate could have unexpected benefits.’
The study founded that chocolate consumption in the morning or at night did not result in weight gain. Chocolate in the morning or evening may alter hunger and appetite, microbiota composition, sleep, and more. Eating chocolate in the morning may aid to burn fat and lower blood glucose levels and, at evening or night chocolate had an effect on the resting and exercise metabolism the next morning.
“Our findings show that not only ‘what’ we eat,’ but also ‘when’ we eat,’ can have an impact on physiological mechanisms involved in body weight management,” stated the researchers.
Chocolate consumption in the morning reduced fasting glucose levels by 4.4 percent when compared to control, however, chocolate consumption in the evening or night increased fasting glucose levels by +4.9 percent when compared to morning chocolate.
The study was limited to postmenopausal females. Therefore, researchers are planning for further studies that should be performed in men and younger females, to confirm these results.
