- Weight loss mechanism
- Benefits and harms
- Contraindications
- How to choose it?
- Recommendations
- Options
Many people are surprised that in dietetics a fasting day on chocolate is offered for quick and tasty weight loss. Can such a high-calorie and sweet product reduce weight? It turns out that there are such miracles, and there is still much that we do not know about our body. If you are afraid of fasting, this option is a real find for you.
Weight loss mechanism
A chocolate fasting day has long been developed by nutritionists, and its effect on the body has been studied up and down. Weight loss becomes possible, thanks to cocoa beans, which:
- prevent the development of insulin resistance (it is the most common cause of obesity) and improve the regulation of glucose consumption;
- support beneficial microflora in the intestines, due to which food is digested faster;
- eliminate foci of inflammation in the body, which can provoke a set of excess weight;
- reduce depression, due to which it is no longer necessary to “seize” stress;
- accelerate metabolism;
- effectively break down fats, removing them from the body (however, this is a rather lengthy process, which cannot be completed within one day, but at least you will start it).
So it turns out that chocolate, despite its high calorie content (more than 500 kcal per 100 g) for losing weight, is just as useful as many other dietary products. And the proof of this is the results of such fasting days. If everything is done correctly, you can lose up to 1.5 kg.
Origin of the name. The word “chocolate” comes from the Mayan language, where “xocolatl” meant “bitter water”.
Benefits and harms
When choosing to lose weight with the help of this sweetness, you need to imagine what benefits it can have, and where to expect a catch.
Benefits:
- prevents cardiovascular diseases;
- reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks, preventing blood clots;
- is a prevention of diabetes, as it controls the process of glucose absorption by the body;
- normalizes blood pressure;
- promotes vascular elasticity;
- facilitates the course of autoimmune diseases;
- stimulates intellectual activity, improves memory, activates thought processes;
- antioxidant substances prevent the formation of tumors;
- polyunsaturated acids remove harmful cholesterol.
Harm:
- destroys tooth enamel;
- causes food addiction;
- high calorie content;
- minimal daily portion causes hunger attacks – it can be very difficult to endure;
- monotony of the diet;
- side effects include nausea and dizziness;
- fainting is possible;
- often provokes gastrointestinal disorders;
- contributes to rashes on the skin.
Noticeable harm from such an unloading day can be felt only in extreme cases: when contraindications were ignored or the recommended dosage was increased.
Additional Information. Chocolate improves heart function, strengthens and cleanses blood vessels from cholesterol plaques.
Contraindications
You should not take note of chocolate fasting days if you have the following contraindications:
- allergy to cocoa beans;
- pregnancy;
- diabetes;
- obesity;
- hypotension;
- gout;
- urolithiasis disease;
- joint diseases;
- insomnia;
- disturbed metabolism.
Of course, 100 g of a bar eaten per day will not provoke an exacerbation of gout or osteochondrosis, but unpleasant side effects are quite possible.
Did you know that… chocolate contains “theobromine” – a substance that makes this product poisonous to animals?
How to choose it?
The assortment of chocolate today is so diverse that the problem of choice involuntarily arises. Porous, dessert, vegan, diabetic, powdered, liquid… Which variety will contribute to maximum weight loss during a fasting day? After all, it is worth making a mistake in this matter – and instead of losing excess weight, you can, on the contrary, gain weight.
- Black/dark/bitter
The most optimal option recommended by nutritionists is to lose weight on bitter chocolate. The percentage of cocoa beans in it, which are responsible for weight loss, is the highest: above 55%. It is better to choose indicators starting from 75% – there will be more benefits. This is the product that is marked “bitter”. If the numbers are smaller, “dark” or “black” will be indicated on the packaging.
- Milk
Undoubtedly, it is much more pleasant to lose weight on milk chocolate, as it is very soft and tender to the taste, literally melts in your mouth. However, the content of cocoa beans in it is minimal, which means that all the hardships of a fasting day may go completely unnoticed. Moreover, dry milk or cream with a fat content of 2.5% in its composition are far from dietary products, and there is practically no benefit from them. So nutritionists do not recommend this type.
- White
You can find everything on the Internet. Even such a paradox as a fasting day menu on white chocolate. Although in the composition of this delicacy there is not a single gram of cocoa beans, which start all the processes in the body, leading to weight loss. So there is nothing more useless for fighting extra pounds.
Other varieties also have no value in losing weight, so you can decisively bypass them.
This is interesting. The most expensive chocolate is “Chocopologie by Knipschildt”. 453 g of the delicacy costs $2,600.
Recommendations
To achieve a result, learn how to properly conduct a fasting day and get out of it without harm to health.
Preparation
Chocolate starvation is a real stress for the body, which it may not react to at all as you would like. Therefore, it is so important to prepare him for this event in advance. To do this, take the following steps 2-3 days before it.
- Start drinking plenty of water.
- Gradually exclude alcohol, carbonated drinks, fried foods, pickled, smoked, fatty, salty foods, fast foods from the diet.
- Switch to five meals a day.
- Eat 20-30g of bitter chocolate daily.
- Get enough sleep.
- Do sports.
- On the eve of the fast, dinner should be as light as possible, and before going to bed it is better to drink a glass of skimmed kefir.
Hunger strike
- Recommended daily volume is 100 g of bitter chocolate.
- Scheme of use: divide into 5 equal portions, which must be eaten at equal intervals.
- The delicacy is allowed to be washed down with drinks such as green tea (possibly with various fat-burning additives in the form of cinnamon or lemon) and herbal decoctions. Kefir and milk do not quite fit into the scheme, but for the sake of exception, if they are fat-free, they are allowed
