- Principle of action
- Benefits and harms
- Contraindications
- How to choose?
- Recommendations
- Options
Many are surprised by the fact that nutritionists offer a chocolate fasting day for quick and delicious weight loss. Can such a high-calorie and sweet product help reduce weight? It turns out that such miracles do happen, and we still do not know much about our bodies. If you are afraid of bland starvation, this option is a godsend for you.
Principle of action
Nutritionists have long created a chocolate fasting day, 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 healthy intestinal microflora, due to which food is digested faster;
- eliminate foci of inflammation in the body that can provoke weight gain;
- reduce depression, so there is no longer any need to “seize” stress;
- accelerate metabolism;
- effectively break down fats, removing them from the body (however, this is a rather lengthy process that 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), is just as useful for weight loss as many other dietary products. And the proof of this is the results of such fasting days. If you do everything correctly, you can lose up to 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg).
Origin of the name. The word “chocolate” comes from the Mayan language, where “xocolatl” meant “bitter water.”
Benefits and harms
Deciding to lose weight with the help of this sweet, you need to imagine what benefits can be derived from it, and where to expect a catch.
Advantages:
- prevents cardiovascular diseases;
- reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks by preventing blood clots;
- is a prevention of diabetes, as it controls the process of glucose absorption by the body;
- normalizes blood pressure;
- promotes elasticity of blood vessels;
- 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.
Disadvantages:
- destroys tooth enamel;
- causes food addiction;
- high calorie content;
- minimum daily portion makes you experience bouts of hunger – it can be very difficult to endure;
- monotony of the diet;
- among the side effects are nausea and dizziness;
- fainting is possible;
- 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, strengthens and cleanses blood vessels from cholesterol plaques.
Contraindications
You should not take note of chocolate fasting days if you have the following contraindications:
- allergies to cocoa beans;
- pregnancy;
- diabetes;
- obesity;
- hypotension;
- gout;
- urolithiasis;
- joint diseases;
- insomnia;
- metabolic disorders.
Of course, 3.5 ounces (100 g) of a 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 assortment of chocolate today is so diverse that the problem of choice involuntarily arises. Porous, dessert, vegan, diabetic, powder, liquid… Which variety will contribute to the maximum weight loss during the fasting day? After all, if you make a mistake in this matter, instead of losing weight, you can, on the contrary, gain weight.
- Black / dark / bitter
The most optimal option, which nutritionists recommend, 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. Such a product is labeled “bitter”. If the numbers are less, “dark” or “black” will be indicated on the package.
- Milk chocolate
Undoubtedly, losing weight on milk chocolate is much more pleasant, as it tastes very soft and delicate, 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 can 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 chocolate
You can find everything on the Internet. Even such a paradox as the menu of a fasting day with white chocolate. Although there is not a single gram of cocoa beans in this delicacy, which start all the processes in the body, leading to weight loss. So nothing more useless for fighting extra pounds can be found.
Other varieties also have no value in weight loss, so you can decisively bypass them.
This is interesting. The most expensive chocolate is “Chocopologie by Knipschildt”. 1 pound (453 g) of treats cost $2,600.
Recommendations
To achieve results, learn how to properly conduct a fasting day and get out of it without harm to your health.
Training
Chocolate starvation is a real stress for the body, which it can react to in a way you don’t want at all. Therefore, it is so important to prepare him for this event in advance. To do this, take the following measures 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 0.7-1 ounces (20-30 g) of bitter chocolate daily.
- Get enough sleep.
- Do sports.
- On the eve of a hunger strike, dinner should be as light as possible, and before going to bed, it is better to drink a glass of fat-free kefir.
Hunger strike
- Recommended daily volume is 3.5 ounces (100 g) of dark chocolate.
- Scheme of use: divide into 5 equal portions, which must be eaten at equal intervals.
- It is allowed to drink the treat with drinks such as green tea (you can use various fat-burning additives in the form of cinnamon or lemon) and herbal teas. Kefir and milk do not quite fit into the scheme, but for the sake of exception, if they are fat-free, then they are also allowed. Everything listed should be unsweetened.
- It is imperative to observe the drinking regime – at least 67.6 ounces (2 liters) of clean water.
