How Your Favorite Sweet Snack Could Make You Skinny?

Table Of Contents:

Intro
Reduced BMI 
Benefits Of Chocolate

Chocolate is one of the most widely consumed snacks in the world and has been linked to improvements in many different aspects of human health.

It may lower blood pressure, boost insulin sensitivity, and could even lower cholesterol (leading to improvement in heart health).

Although chocolate does contain lots of sugar and saturated fat, which is why it is recommended to limit your daily intake to avoid increased weight gain from too many calories.

However, a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, may estalish a link between chocolate intake and a reduction in your BMI.

Chocolate and Reduced BMI

Researchers, looking to verify previous findings that chocolate intake was associated with reduced BMI and lower risk factors for metabolic syndrome, set out to work.

According to their research, your BMI (which could be high or low) is just one part of a complicated puzzle related to metabolic syndrome.

BMI, which is a weight to height ratio that is commonly used to assess the risk for being underweight, overweight, or obese.

Metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of many different factors, could increase your risk for developing diabetes, heart disease, or having a stroke.

Typically, metabolic syndrome is associated with extra weight around your mid-section, insulin resistance, and blood pressure changes.

There are many different factors that could increase your risk for metabolic syndrome. They usually include: age, gender, lack of exercise, extra weight, and hormone changes in your body.

But here's the great news:

Moderate chocolate consumption may be associated with smaller fat deposits in your body.

Yay!

The researchers recruited 1,018 men and women, aged 20 to 85, and who were free from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and had low levels of LDL cholesterol.

They answered questionnaires that looked at fruit and vegetable intake (associated with a lower BMI), saturated fat intake, exercise history, and chocolate intake.

A total of 1,017 people answered the questionnaire on chocolate intake.

The researchers noted that greater chocolate consumption was related to lower body weight.

They also showed that people who consumed chocolate twice per week, also tended to exercise at least three days per week.

However, they did find that frequency of chocolate intake was associated with an increase in calories and saturated fat.

The researchers mentioned that the powerful polyphenols--epicatechins--may be found in high amounts in chocolate, which could explain the difference (meaning lower) BMI.  

Epicatechins have been shown in other studies to increase mitochondrial biogenesis and capillary, muscular performance and lean mass which could be linked to reductions in BMI without changing calories in rats.

They concluded through their findings, wait for is...

That modest chocolate intake was associated with a reduced BMI.  Simply put, eating chocolate in moderation could lead to a smaller BELLY!
 
The researchers did note that even though their research supports other research, their findings warrant further studies into chocolate relationship in human metabolic demands.

Amazing Benefits of Chocolate

One of the most consumed snacks in the world, chocolate, has been on the forefront of research the last few years for potential benefits related to health and wellness.

In fact, recently it has been shown that chocolate contains powerful polyphenols, which have been shown to possess very strong antioxidant capabilities.

Now, according to this amazing new study, MODEST (everything in moderation afterall) could lower your BMI!

The research could point to catechins found in chocolate as the reason for the significant improvements in different areas of health - especially metabolic syndrome.

Even though more research is needed, chocolate consumption could be linked to lower BMI, which could help reduce one risk factor related to metabolic syndrome.


NEXT: Even Better Than Chocolate >>

References:

Golomb, BA, MD, PhD. Koperski, S, BS. White, HL, PhD.  Association Between More Frequent Chocolate Consumption and Lower Body Mass Index.  Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(6):519-521. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.2100.