A surprising effect of eating chocolate, a new study says

A small treat can actually improve your health.


You have probably heard that chocolate can be considered a healthy-black-black chocolate, that is, milk chocolate in a bar of Hershey or the substance that covers the chocula cereals.Now, new research suggests that it can help you burn more calories while sitting on the couch.

Dark chocolate with 70% and more cocoa is high in plant compounds called flavonoids and flavanols associated with aLower risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular benefits. The American Heart Association notes that some studies suggest that black chocolate consumption is associated with a lower risk of insulin resistance and high blood pressure.

Ato study Involving obese subjects revealed that eating dark chocolate and raw almonds helped reduce their "bad" cholesterol. Otherresearch Points to such cognitive advantages such as improved brain blood, improved memory, faster processing speed, better test performance and improved mood. (In touch:14 Benefits for Health to Eat Chocolate.)

Some experts believe that the evidence of the health benefits of dark chocolate are still thin, a new study is added to the growing research corpus that can encourage you to enjoy a few squares of your favorite dark chocolate after dinner.

The little study published in 2021 in theInternational Journal of Exercise Sciences Tested the effect of a small amount of dark chocolate on women's energy spending (metabolism) during rest and exercise. Eighteen Fit women were randomly assigned to one of the two groups - one of the 20 grams of dark chocolate and the other a quantity of white chocolate calorily matched to eat daily during the 28-day trial. The subjects were blind to the fact that the dark chocolate was tested and the white chocolate was the placebo.

The two groups had their energy expenditure (EEP) and their energy expenses (EEA) recorded before starting chocolate supplementation and after 28 days of chocolate eater. The exercise sessions concerned cycling fixed with two different intensities.

The results showed thatParticipants who ate dark chocolate recorded an increase of nearly 10% of their rest metabolism (REE) compared to any increase in the ERP of the white chocolate group. However, dark chocolate had no effect on energy expenditure during one of the intensities of cycling.

Although we can assume that chocolate caffeine could have been behind the boost metabolism, the researchers say that the daily dose of dark chocolate - about 4 squares - was too small for its caffeine content to play an important role in the results. More likely, the flavonoids of dark chocolate have stimulated the thunderbolt of the metabolic rate, say that the researchers, suggesting that further studies can find a role of dark chocolate in the energy balance, weight control and body composition. .

Hunger for a little chocolate?We tasted tested 5 chocolate bars and this one was the best.

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