A research conducted among postmenopausal women has found that eating chocolate can help control blood sugar levels and burn body fat.
Science gives chocolates a bad name. This sweet concoction has been blamed to cause weight gain, especially among postmenopausal women who are more prone to gaining weight. Milk chocolate, in specific, has been painted as the villain for its high caloric, fat, and sugar content. Whereas the bitter dark chocolate is labelled as healthy for the heart and brain. But can eating chocolate at a specific time of the day affect one’s body weight and burn body fat?
I like this, I really like it, because many people really like chocolate and sometimes they feel guilty and when they feel guilty it’s worse because then you crave it
Dr Marta Garaulet, study author
A team of researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital aimed to investigate the effect of food timing on weight control. They hypothesized that eating chocolate in the morning or at night can affect one’s circadian rhythm; thus, influencing their body weight and metabolism. The team conducted the study in collaboration with researchers at the University of Murcia in Spain.
The study included 19 postmenopausal women living in Spain. As part of the trial, they ate 100 grams of milk chocolate for two weeks; in the morning within an hour of waking up, at night within an hour of bedtime, and two weeks of no chocolate. Additionally, they could not have chocolate at any other time in the day. Researchers also included a week of washout between each condition. During the washout week, participants followed their usual dietary habits, but refrained from eating chocolate.
Along with weight changes, researchers also measured participants’ cortisol levels, fasting blood sugar concentration, sleep characteristics and fecal microbiota composition.
500 Extra Calories
Results showed that despite the high caloric content of chocolate, a two-week consumption, irrespective of timing, did not cause any weight gain. Chocolate consumption reduced the desire for sweets and reduce hunger among the participants. Moreover, eating chocolate during the morning led to lower blood glucose levels and helped burn body fat. On the other hand, eating chocolate at night altered the next day’s exercise metabolism
Our volunteers did not gain weight despite increasing caloric intake. Our results show that chocolate reduced ad libitum energy intake, consistent with the observed reduction in hunger, appetite and the desire for sweets shown in previous studies
Dr Marta Garaulet, study author
The results of the study provide evidence for the effect of food timing on the regulation of body weight. Complete results of the study are available in The FASEB Journal.
So next time you feel guilty for eating a Hershey bar, think of this research and rest easy.
Reference:
Teresa Hernández‐González et al, Timing of chocolate intake affects hunger, substrate oxidation, and microbiota: A randomized controlled trial, The FASEB Journal (2021). DOI: 10.1096/fj.202002770RR
