You may be aware of dark chocolate’s reputation for helping with weight loss. It’s an appealing idea, but is there scientific evidence to support this claim? The good news is that chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, offers a multitude of health benefits when consumed in moderation, making it a potentially healthy addition to your weight loss journey. This article explores the relationship between high cocoa content chocolate and weight loss, providing insights into how it can be incorporated into a balanced diet.
The Appeal of Dark Chocolate
Starting a weight loss journey can be daunting, but setting healthy and achievable goals can help keep you motivated and on track. Dark chocolate stands out as a treat that may offer more than just indulgence. Technically a plant-based food, chocolate derives many of its benefits from the presence of flavanols, compounds found in cocoa beans.
How Dark Chocolate May Aid Weight Loss
Dark chocolate is generally higher in fiber and nutrients and lower in sugar than milk chocolate. Some researchers have found that eating dark chocolate may have a positive impact on your blood sugar levels and will therefore reduce cravings for less nutritious foods later on. Dark chocolate may also make you less hungry, thanks to its effects on a hormone responsible for regulating your appetite. There’s some evidence to suggest that the cocoa in it can contribute to weight loss, but the evidence is not very strong.
Cocoa contains substances called flavanols that may improve insulin sensitivity in people who have pre-diabetes. Flavonols in cocoa may also improve insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control, helping to prevent the “crashes” that can lead to eating more or choosing less healthy food options. Flavanols are a type of polyphenol, which are defense chemicals produced by plants that have been associated with a range of health benefits. They are antioxidants, meaning they help protect your cells from damage by free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can cause significant damage. These effects may also improve blood flow to the brain, which could be why a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Phytotherapy Research in May 2023 concluded that eating cocoa daily may have cognitive benefits, including improved learning, memory, and attention. “Chocolate can also enhance brain function, with studies suggesting that it may improve cognitive performance and reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases,” Manaker says.
The cocoa in dark chocolate may also help you feel less hungry for longer by reducing levels of a hormone called ghrelin, which is involved in regulating appetite. Eating small amounts of dark chocolate may help to control your appetite by reducing levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin.
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The Role of Blood Sugar Control
Studies involving people with diabetes have found that eating dark chocolate is associated with improved insulin sensitivity and possibly weight loss. Better insulin sensitivity means your cells are able to take up sugar from the blood more quickly and your blood sugar does not remain high for too long. Spikes in your blood sugar can lead to dips or sugar “crashes.” These dips can lead to increased hunger and cravings, and are linked to obesity in the long term.
Appetite Control and Satiety
Dark chocolate is “a great way of satisfying your cravings for sweetness at the end of a meal without having too much,” says Spencer Hyman, chocolate expert and founder of the ethical craft chocolate company Cocoa Runners. He speaks on an upcoming ZOE Science Podcast. Some very small studies appear to back this up, suggesting that eating dark chocolate - and even just smelling it - can reduce your appetite and lower the levels of the hormone ghrelin in your gut. Ghrelin tells your brain that you're hungry. As you eat and begin to feel full, ghrelin levels decrease. Other studies have found that people felt less hungry - and ate less food later in the day - after eating dark chocolate, compared with milk or white chocolate.
Choosing the Right Dark Chocolate
As we’ve seen, there’s some evidence that eating dark chocolate may influence your blood sugar levels and appetite in a way that’s been linked to weight loss. When selecting dark chocolate for weight loss, opt for varieties with no added sugar and higher cocoa content. However, eating too much of any one food is not the best choice for your health, and it’s important to be aware that even dark chocolate often has significant amounts of refined sugar added to it. With all the dark chocolate products on the market, it can be hard to know which ones are the best for your health. The percentage of cocoa in dark chocolate can vary wildly, and the less cocoa it contains, the more likely it is to have high levels of sugar and additives. Professor Tim Spector - scientific co-founder of ZOE and head of the twin research and genetic epidemiology department at King’s College London - recommends 70% dark chocolate as a good starting point.
“There’s no real consensus about what level of cocoa starts to be healthy,” says Prof. Spector. “But above 70% is where most people seem to draw the line.”
“The more cocoa you’ve got, the more fiber and polyphenols and more good stuff you’ve got in there. So you want to be getting up towards that high percentage if you can, particularly if you’re having chocolate on a regular basis.” - Prof. Tim Spector. ZOE’s Prof. Tim Spector recommends choosing products that are at least 70% cocoa and that contain less added sugar and no artificial additives.
Read also: Low-Carb Chocolate Pie Guide
If you currently love milk chocolate, you might want to slowly increase the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate you eat to help your taste buds adjust to the taste. One way of doing this is by combining dark chocolate with other foods, such as fruit. Having the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber from the right foods for you can have positive effects on your metabolic responses.
Moderation is Key
Despite its health benefits, even 70% dark chocolate contains added sugar. It is important to keep portion sizes in mind, as consuming too much chocolate can lead to weight gain rather than weight loss. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting added sugar to around 12 teaspoons, or around 48 grams, per day for women and to around 15 teaspoons, or 60 grams, for men. While this may sound like a lot, keep in mind that this is the total added sugar in your diet from all meals, snacks, and beverages. But this does not include sugars that naturally occur in foods such as fruit and dairy. If we break this down based on three meals a day, that's 16-20 grams of added sugar per meal. A 1-ounce, or 30-gram, serving has around 9 grams of added sugar. Meanwhile, one review of studies looking at the effects of eating dark chocolate found that researchers generally gave participants a maximum of 20 grams per person per day. Even the best quality dark chocolate contains added sugar, so it’s best to eat it in moderation. An ounce is all you need. That amounts to one square of chocolate. One good thing about dark chocolate is that, due to its intense flavor, a little goes a long way.
That may not seem like a lot, but it could be just enough to help keep cravings for less healthy snacks at bay. She recommends sucking on the chocolate instead of chewing it to make it last longer and to help you appreciate the texture, taste and flavor of the bar. Choosing a quality bar with a high cocoa percentage can help.
Individual Responses
At ZOE, we have found that individual responses to dark chocolate vary widely across the population.
ZOE's PREDICT study showed that - based on individual blood fat and blood sugar responses - two-thirds of participants should only eat dark chocolate in moderation.
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Additional Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate
Aside from its rich antioxidant content, dark chocolate contains flavonoids, which have been linked to reducing inflammation, optimizing blood flow, and improving heart health. In addition to aiding in weight loss, dark chocolate has numerous other health benefits that make it a worthwhile addition to your diet.
Dark chocolate is rich in flavanols, which can help lower blood pressure and improve circulation. One past study found that dark chocolate may help lower blood pressure, possibly due to theobromine, a compound that is similar to caffeine but appears to decrease heart rate and blood pressure. “Theobromine helps widen and relax your blood vessels which increases blood flow and may help reduce blood pressure,” Ali says. Not only that, she says, but chocolate has also been shown to be a mood enhancer.
In one randomized controlled trial, healthy adults who ate 85 percent cacao dark chocolate daily for three weeks reported improved mood, possibly because dark chocolate acts as a prebiotic. The study authors speculate that the effects of chocolate on the microbiome influence mood via the gut-brain axis, according to research published in The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry in January 2022.
Potential Downsides
Although dark chocolate is generally a healthier alternative to other chocolate, it still contains sugar, and poorer quality dark chocolate may also have additives. One other caveat about dark chocolate: In 2022, Consumer Reports published results of an analysis that found many dark chocolate bars on the market contained both lead and cadmium, a heavy metal that poses potential health risks. “[Cadmium] is taken up by the cacao plant from the soil and accumulates in the beans, which are then processed into chocolate,” Manaker explains. “The cadmium levels in chocolate vary based on factors such as the type of soil in which the cacao plant was grown, farming practices, and the variety of the plant itself. Dark chocolate, due to its higher cacao content, tends to have higher levels of cadmium.” Usually, the amount of cadmium in chocolate bars is within safe limits, but, she says, it is another good reason to eat chocolate in moderation.
Incorporating Dark Chocolate into Your Diet
Integrating dark chocolate into your diet for weight loss requires some careful consideration. By following these tips, you can add the benefits of dark chocolate to your weight loss journey without sacrificing progress. As you embark on your weight loss journey, don’t overlook the potential benefits of dark chocolate. Incorporate dark chocolate mindfully and in moderation, and balance it with a nutritious, calorie-controlled diet.
Recommended serving
A serving size of dark chocolate is typically around 1 ounce, which contains approximately 150 calories.
Type of Chocolate
When choosing dark chocolate, make sure to opt for varieties with at least 70% cocoa content to reap the most health benefits. When selecting dark chocolate for weight loss, opt for varieties with no added sugar and higher cocoa content.
Frequency
Above all, remember that dark chocolate should be a treat rather than a daily indulgence.
Scientific Studies and Evidence
Although the focus of scientific studies on the beneficial properties of chocolate with a high cocoa content has increased in recent years, studies determining its importance for weight regulation, in particular within the context of a controlled dietary measure, have rarely beenconducted.
In a study consisting of several weeks, we divided men and women between the ages of 19-67 into three groups. One group was instructed to keep a low-carb diet and to consume an additional daily serving of 42 grams of chocolate with 81% cocoa content (chocolate group). Another group was instructed to follow the same low-carb diet as the chocolate group, but without the chocolate intervention (low-carb group). In addition, we asked a third group to eat at their own discretion, with unrestricted choice of food.
However, many of the studies on this topic have only included small groups of people. More research is needed to fully understand how dark chocolate impacts weight loss. More research is needed to fully understand the connection between dark chocolate and blood sugar control. But more good quality research involving large groups of people is needed to strengthen these early findings.