- How it works
- Benefits and risks
- Contraindications
- How to choose it
- Recommendations
- Options
Many people are surprised to learn that chocolate diet day is recommended in dietetics for quick and tasty weight loss. Can a such caloric, sweet product promote weight loss? You may be surprised, but it is possible to perform such wonders and we still don’t know much about our own bodies. If you are afraid of bland fasts, this option will be just the thing for you.
How it works
Dieticians designed chocolate fasting day a long way ago, and its effects on the human body were extensively studied. Weight loss becomes possible due to cocoa beans, which:
- prevent insulin resistance (which is the most common cause of obesity) and improve glucose consumption regulation;
- support the beneficial intestinal microflora, which facilitates faster digestion;
- eliminate inflammation in the body, which can provoke extra weight gain;
- reduce depression, due to which we no longer need to “eat away” stress;
- accelerate metabolism;
- efficiently break down fats and remove them from the body (but it is quite a lengthy process which cannot be completed in one day, but you will at least initiate it).
Therefore, despite its high calorific value (over 500 kcal per 100 g) chocolate is as useful for weight loss as many other diet products. Results of such fasting days serve as a proof of it. If you do everything right, you can lose up to 1.5 kg.
Origin of the name. The word “chocolate” comes from the Mayan language, where “xocolatl” means “bitter water”.
Benefits and risks
When choosing weight loss with chocolate, you need to understand its possible benefits and disadvantages.
Benefits:
- prevents cardiovascular diseases;
- reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks by preventing the formation of blood clots;
- is a prophylactic remedy against diabetes mellitus as it controls glucose assimilation process in the body;
- normalizes arterial pressure;
- promotes vascular elasticity;
- relieves autoimmune diseases;
- stimulates mental activity, improves memory, and enhances thought processes;
- antioxidants prevent tumor formation;
- polyunsaturated acids remove harmful cholesterol.
Risks:
- destroys tooth enamel;
- causes food addiction;
- high caloric value;
- minimum daily portion makes the person experience hunger attacks, which can be very hard to resist;
- monotony of the diet;
- nausea and dizziness are among its side effects;
- may cause fainting;
- often provokes gastrointestinal disorders;
- contributes to skin rashes.
Obvious harm from such fasting days can only be obtained in extreme cases: when contraindications were ignored or the recommended dosage was increased.
Additional info. Chocolate improves the work of the heart and strengthens blood vessels and cleans them from cholesterol plaques.
Contraindications
You shouldn’t not consider chocolate fasting days if you have the following contraindications:
- cocoa beans allergy;
- pregnancy;
- diabetes mellitus;
- obesity;
- hypotension;
- gout;
- urolithiasis;
- joint diseases;
- insomnia;
- metabolic disorder.
Of course, 100 g of chocolate bar eaten within a day will not provoke gout or osteochondrosis exacerbation, but unpleasant side effects are quite possible.
Did you know that… chocolate contains “theobromine”, a substance that makes this product toxic to animals?
How to choose it
The assortment of chocolate is so diverse today that the choice becomes a problem. Porous, dessert, vegan, diabetic, powdered, liquid… Which one will contribute to the maximum weight loss during fasting day? After all, you should be mistaken in this question, and instead of losing some extra weight you can gain it.
- Black / dark / bitter
The most optimal option recommended by dieticians is to lose weight with bitter chocolate. The bitter chocolate contains the highest amount of cocoa beans, which are responsible for weight loss: over 55%. It is better to choose indexes starting from 75% as it will be more beneficial. This is the product that is marked as “bitter”. If the numbers are lower, the package will indicate “dark” or “black”.
- Milk
Without a doubt, losing weight with milk chocolate is much more pleasant, as it is very soft and tender to the taste, it literally melts in your mouth. However, the content of cocoa beans in it is minimal, which means that all hardships of fasting day may go unnoticed. Meanwhile, skimmed milk or 2.5% fat cream in its composition are not dietary products, and they are practically no benefits from them. Therefore, dieticians do not recommend this type.
- White
You can find everything on the Internet. Even such a paradox as a fasting day menu with white chocolate. Although this delicacy does not contain a single gram of cocoa beans, which start all the processes in the body, leading to weight loss. So, you will not find anything more useless for fighting extra pounds.
Other varieties also have no value for weight loss, so you can resolutely ignore them.
That’s interesting. The most expensive chocolate is “Chocopologie by Knipschildt”. 453 g of delicacy cost $2600.
Recommendations
To achieve the result, learn how to properly conduct a fasting day and get out of it without harm to your health.
Preparation
Chocolate hunger strike is a real stress for the body, reacting to it in a completely different way than it would to what you want. Therefore, it is very important to prepare it for this event in advance. For this purpose, take the following steps 2-3 days before it.
- Start drinking plenty of water.
- Gradually exclude alcohol, sparkling drinks, fried dishes, pickled, smoked, fatty, salty products and fast food from your diet.
- Switch to five meals a day.
- Eat 20-30 g of bitter chocolate bar daily.
- Get enough sleep.
- Exercise.
- On fasting day eve dinner should be maximally light, and before going to bed it is better to drink a glass of fat-free kefir.
Fasting
- Recommended daily serving is 100 g of bitter chocolate.
- Usage scheme: divide into 5 equal portions to be eaten at equal time intervals.
- You are allowed to wash down the delicacy with such drinks as green tea (you can use various fat-burning additives such as cinnamon or lemon) and herbal teas. Kefir and milk do not quite fit into the scheme, but if you do not have other options, they are also allowed if they are fat-free. All these products should be unsweetened.
- You should definitely observe the drinking regime – at least 2 liters of pure water.
- Physical exercise is contraindicated on this day. You can only take a short walk and do 10-minute morning exercise.
- As soon as you feel dizzy or nauseous, it is recommended to drink sweet tea and lie down. And have a full meal in half an hour. These side effects are alarming signs that this method of weight loss is contraindicated for you.
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