“Sweet” weight loss – myth or fairy tale? All the truth about fasting days on chocolate

• Weight loss mechanism
• Benefits and risks
• Contraindications
• How to choose
• Recommendations
• Options

Many people are surprised that nutritionists suggest a chocolate unloading day for quick and tasty weight loss. Can such a high-calorie and sweet product 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 diets, this option is a real find for you.

Weight loss mechanism

Nutritionists have long developed a chocolate unloading day and have studied its effects on the body in depth. Weight loss becomes possible thanks 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 gut microflora, which helps food digest faster;
• eliminate inflammation in the body, which can provoke weight gain;
• reduce depression, so there is no need to “eat away” stress anymore;
• accelerate metabolism;
• effectively break down fats, removing them from the body (although 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 results of such unloading days are proof of that. If you do everything 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 risks

When choosing to lose weight with the help of this sweet treat, you need to understand 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 thrombosis;
• is a preventive measure against 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;
• antioxidants prevent the formation of tumors;
• polyunsaturated acids remove harmful cholesterol.

Risks:

• 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;
• side effects include nausea and dizziness;
• fainting is possible;
• often provokes gastrointestinal disorders;
• contributes to skin rashes.

You can only experience obvious harm from such unloading days 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

Do not take note of chocolate unloading days if you have the following contraindications:

• allergy to cocoa beans;
• pregnancy;
• diabetes;
• obesity;
• hypotension;
• gout;
• urolithiasis;
• joint diseases;
• insomnia;
• metabolic disorders.

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

The assortment of chocolate today is so diverse that the problem of choosing involuntarily arises. Porous, dessert, vegan, diabetic, powdered, liquid… Which type will contribute to the maximum weight loss on an unloading day? After all, if you make a mistake in this matter, you can gain weight instead of losing it.

• Black / dark / bitter

The most optimal option that nutritionists recommend is to lose weight on bitter chocolate. It has the highest percentage of cocoa beans, which are responsible for weight loss: 75% or higher. The product with such an indicator is marked “bitter”. If the numbers are lower, the packaging will say “dark” or “black”.

• Milk

Undoubtedly, it is much more pleasant to lose weight on milk chocolate, as it tastes very soft and tender, literally melting in your mouth. However, it has a minimal content of cocoa beans, which means that all the hardships of an unloading day may remain completely unnoticed. Moreover, powdered 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 menu for an unloading day on white chocolate. Although there is not a single gram of cocoa beans in this treat, which start all the processes in the body, leading to weight loss. So you won’t find anything more useless for fighting extra pounds.

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”. 453 g of the treat cost $2,600.

Recommendations

To achieve results, learn how to properly conduct an unloading day and exit it without harm to your health.

Preparation

Chocolate starvation is a real stress for the body, to which it may not react at all the way you want. That is why it is so important to prepare him for this event in advance. To do this, take the following steps 2-3 days before it.

1. Start drinking plenty of water.
2. Gradually exclude alcohol, carbonated drinks, fried foods, pickled, smoked, fatty, salty foods, and fast foods from your diet.
3. Switch to five meals a day.
4. Eat 20-30 g of a bitter bar daily.
5. Get enough sleep.
6. Exercise.
7. On the eve of the 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.

Starvation

1. The recommended daily volume is 100 g of dark chocolate.
2. Scheme of use: divide into 5 equal portions, which must be eaten at equal intervals.
3. You are allowed to drink the treat with drinks such as green tea (you can with 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 as an exception, if they are fat-free, then they are also allowed. All of the above should be unsweetened.
4. It is imperative to observe the drinking regime – at least 2 liters of pure water.
5. Physical activity on this day is contraindicated. Only a short walk and a 10-minute morning exercise are possible.
6. As soon as you feel dizzy or nauseous, it is recommended to drink sweet tea and lie down. And after half an hour, have a full meal. These side effects are alarming signals that this method of losing weight is contraindicated for you.

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