Spanish researchers have found that consuming chocolate for a short time after waking up can help the body burn more fat and lower blood sugar levels.
- Twelve days before Easter, Ferrero-branded Kinder chocolates were recalled on suspicion of being contaminated with Salmonella, the cause of salmonellosis.
During this Easter weekend, young and old alike are tempted to taste chocolate for breakfast, tea or even dinner. But when is the best time to eat this cocoa and sugar-based product? This is the question posed by scientists from the University of Murcia in Spain. To answer this, they decided to carry out a study whose the results were published in the journal The FASEB Journal.
“Consuming chocolate in the morning or in the evening/at night may have a different effect on energy balance and body weight due to changes in energy intake, substrate oxidation, microbiota, and body-related variables. circadian rhythm”, the researchers said. To learn more about the effects of chocolate consumption at different times of the day, the authors recruited 19 postmenopausal women. For about two weeks, participants ingested either 100 g of chocolate in the morning (within an hour of waking up) or in the evening (within an hour of going to bed).
Consume chocolate in the morning to benefit from its virtues
According to the results, the consumption of chocolate in the morning and in the evening did not lead to weight gain and reduced the feeling of hunger and the desire to taste sweets. Eating this cocoa-sugar product in the morning is said to have helped burn more fat and lower blood sugar. Enjoy chocolate for breakfast reduced “waist circumference (-1.7%) and increased lipid oxidation (+25.6%)”. According to the researchers, consuming this sweet food in the evening or at night alters resting metabolism.
“Our results highlight that not only ‘what’ we eat but also ‘when’ we eat can impact the physiological mechanisms involved in the regulation of body weight,” said Frank AJL Scheer, author of the study, in a statement.
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