- Weight Loss Mechanism
- Benefits and Risks
- Contraindications
- How to Choose
- Recommendations
- Variations
Many are surprised to find a fasting day on chocolate offered in dietetics for a quick and delicious way to shed weight. Can such a high-calorie and sweet delicacy really lead to weight loss? It turns out that such miracles do happen, and we still don’t know much about our own bodies. If you’re afraid of bland fasts, this is a real find for you.
Weight Loss Mechanism
The chocolate fasting day was developed by nutritionists long ago, and its effect on the body has been well studied. Weight loss is achieved thanks to the cocoa beans, which:
- prevent the development of insulin resistance (which is the most common cause of obesity) and improve the regulation of glucose utilization;
- support a healthy gut microflora, thanks to which food is digested faster;
- eliminate foci of inflammation in the body, which can provoke excess weight gain;
- reduce depression, so you no longer need to “seize” stress;
- accelerate metabolism;
- effectively break down fats, removing them from the body (however, this is a fairly lengthy process that cannot be completed within one day, but at least you will start it).
Despite chocolate’s high calorie content (over 500 kcal per 100 g), it turns out that it is just as beneficial for weight loss as many other dietary products. And the proof of this is the results of chocolate fasting days. If everything is done correctly, you can lose up to 1.5 kg.
Etymology. The word “chocolate” comes from the Mayan language, where “xocolatl” meant “bitter water”.
Benefits and Risks
When choosing weight loss 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 by preventing blood clots;
- is a prophylactic agent for 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, and 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 pangs – it can be very difficult to endure;
- monotony of the diet;
- among the side effects are nausea and dizziness;
- possible fainting;
- often provokes gastrointestinal disorders;
- contributes to skin rashes.
Obvious harm from such fasting days can be felt only in extreme cases: when contraindications were ignored or the recommended dosage was increased.
Additional information. Chocolate improves heart function and strengthens and cleanses blood vessels from cholesterol plaques.
Contraindications
Do not consider chocolate fasting days if the following contraindications are present:
- allergy to cocoa beans;
- pregnancy;
- diabetes;
- obesity;
- hypotension;
- gout;
- urolithiasis;
- joint diseases;
- insomnia;
- metabolic disorder.
Of course, 100 g of chocolate 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
The variety of chocolate is so diverse today that the problem of choice involuntarily arises. Porous, dessert, vegan, diabetic, powdered, liquid… Which variety will promote maximum weight loss during a fasting day? After all, if you make a mistake in this matter, instead of losing extra weight, you can gain it instead.
- Black / dark / bitter
The most optimal option, which nutritionists recommend, is to lose weight on dark chocolate. It contains the highest percentage of cocoa beans responsible for weight loss: more than 55%. It is better to choose products with indicators starting from 75% – there will be more benefits. This product is labeled as “bitter”. If the numbers are lower, the packaging will be marked “dark” or “black”.
- Milk
Undoubtedly, losing weight on milk chocolate is much more pleasant, as it has a very soft and delicate taste, literally melting in your mouth. However, it has a minimal cocoa bean content, which means that all the hardships of a fasting day may remain 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 the menu of a fasting day on 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 won’t find anything more useless for fighting those extra pounds.
Other varieties also have no value in weight loss, so you can resolutely bypass them.
That’s interesting. The most expensive chocolate is “Chocopologie by Knipschildt”. 453 g of delicacies cost $2,600.
Recommendations
In order to achieve the result, learn how to properly conduct a fasting day and get out of it without harm to health.
Preparation
Chocolate fasting is a real stress for the body, to which it may not react at all as desired. 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, and fast foods from your diet.
- Switch to five meals a day.
- Eat 20-30 g of bitter chocolate daily.
- Get a good night’s sleep.
- Go in for sports.
- On the eve of a hunger strike, dinner should be as light as possible, and it is better to drink a glass of fat-free kefir before going to bed.
