- Weight loss mechanism
- Benefits and risks
- Contraindications
- How to choose
- Recommendations
- Varieties
Many people are surprised when dietitians offer to spend a chocolate fasting day for quick and delicious weight loss. Is it possible for such a high-calorie and sugary product to reduce the weight? As it turns out, such miracles happen, and we still don’t know enough about our bodies. If you’re afraid of tasteless starvation, this option will really appeal to you.
Weight loss mechanism
Dietitians have developed a chocolate fasting day a long time ago, and its effect on the body has been studied in detail. Weight loss becomes possible due to cocoa beans which:
- prevent the development of insulin resistance (which is the most common cause of obesity) and improve the regulation of glucose consumption;
- support healthy microflora in the gastrointestinal tract, thanks to which food is digested faster;
- eliminate inflammation in the body that can cause the accumulation of excess weight;
- reduce depression, which makes the necessity to “seize” stress recede;
- stimulate metabolism;
- actively destroy fats, removing them from the body (though it is a fairly long process that cannot be completed in one day, but at least you’ll give it a start).
So it turns out that chocolate, despite its high calorific value (over 500 kcal per 100 g), is just as good for losing weight as many other dietary products. For instance, the results of such fasting days serve as proof of this. If you do everything right, it is possible to lose up to 1.5 kg.
Etymology. The word “chocolate” comes from the Maya language, in which “xocolatl” means “bitter water”.
Benefits and risks
When choosing to lose weight with the help of this sweet delicacy, it is necessary to understand what benefits it possesses and in what cases one can expect negative consequences.
Benefits:
- prevents cardiovascular diseases;
- reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks, preventing the formation of blood clots;
- prevents diabetes, because it controls the process of glucose absorption in the body;
- normalizes blood pressure;
- contributes to the elasticity of blood vessels;
- facilitates the course of autoimmune diseases;
- stimulates intellectual activity, improves memory, and activates thinking processes;
- antioxidant substances prevent the formation of tumors;
- polyunsaturated acids remove harmful cholesterol.
Risks:
- damages tooth enamel;
- causes food addiction;
- high calorie content;
- the minimal daily serving makes you feel hungry — it can be difficult to endure;
- the monotony of the diet;
- side effects include nausea and dizziness;
- fainting may occur;
- often causes gastrointestinal problems;
- contributes to skin rashes.
Obvious risks from such fasting days can only occur in extreme cases: when contraindications are ignored or the recommended dosage is increased.
Additional information. Chocolate improves the functioning of the heart, strengthens and clears blood vessels from cholesterol plaques.
Contraindications
You should not schedule chocolate fasting days if you have the following contraindications:
- allergy to cocoa beans;
- pregnancy;
- diabetes;
- obesity;
- hypotension;
- gout;
- urolithiasis;
- joint diseases;
- insomnia;
- metabolic disorders.
Of course, 100g of chocolate bar eaten per day is unlikely to cause an exacerbation of gout or osteochondrosis, but unpleasant side effects are possible.
Did you know? Chocolate contains “theobromine” — a substance that makes this product poisonous for animals?
How to choose
The range of chocolate is so diverse that the problem of choice is inevitable. Porous, dessert, vegan, diabetic, powdered, liquid… What kind of it will promote the greatest weight loss during a fasting day? After all, a mistake can lead to weight gain instead of weight loss.
- Black / dark / bitter
The most optimal option recommended by dietitians for losing weight is dark chocolate. It has the highest percentage of cocoa beans that are responsible for weight loss: more than 55%. It is better to choose indicators starting from 75% — it will be more beneficial. This product is labelled as “bitter”. If the numbers are lower, the packaging will say “dark” or “black”.
- Milk chocolate
Of course, it is more pleasant to lose weight on milk chocolate, as it is very soft and tender, literally melting in your mouth. However, the cocoa bean content is minimal, which means that all the difficult moments of the fasting day may seem particularly useless. Moreover, dry milk or cream with a fat content of 2.5% are far from being dietary products, and there are almost no benefits from them. Therefore, dietitians do not recommend this type.
- White chocolate
You can find anything on the Internet. Even such a paradox as a white chocolate fasting day menu. Although the composition of this delicacy does not contain a single gram of cocoa beans that trigger all the processes in the body, leading to weight loss. So there is nothing more useless in the fight against extra pounds.
Other varieties are also of no value for losing weight, so you can safely ignore them.
Interesting fact. The most expensive chocolate in the world is “Chocopologie by Knipschildt”. 453 g of this delicacy costs $2600.
Recommendations
To achieve results, you need to learn how to properly spend a fasting day and exit it without causing harm to your health.
Preparation
Chocolate starvation is a real stress for the body, which may react to it not at all the way you want. Therefore, it is important to prepare it for the event in advance. To do this, 2-3 days before the fasting day, take the following measures.
- Start drinking plenty of water.
- Gradually exclude alcohol, carbonated drinks, fried food, pickles, smoked food, fatty, salty food, and fast food from your diet.
- Switch to five meals a day.
- Eat 20-30 g of bitter chocolate daily.
- Get enough sleep.
- Go in for sports.
- On the eve of starvation, have a very light dinner, and before going to bed, drink a glass of fat-free kefir.
Fasting
- The recommended daily volume of dark chocolate is 100 g.
- Consumption scheme: divide it into five equal portions, which should be eaten at regular intervals.
- You can drink the delicacy with such drinks as green tea (it can be with various fat-burning additives such as cinnamon or lemon) and herbal teas. Kefir and milk do not quite fit into the scheme, but as an exception, if they are skimmed, they are also allowed. All of the aforementioned drinks should be unsweetened.
- It is necessary to comply with the drinking regimen — at least 2 liters of clean water.
- Physical activity is contraindicated on this day. Only a short walk and 10-minute morning exercises are possible.
- As soon as you feel dizzy or nauseous, it is recommended to drink sweet
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