Eat chocolate and lose weight sounds like an oxymoron comparable to “drive your SUV from LA to San Francisco for $5. According to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, one can actually include chocolate in a diet and lose weight. They published their findings online on March 26 in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
The researchers noted that chocolate has been found to have favorable metabolic associations with blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and cholesterol levels. They explain that the substance is rich in antioxidant phytonutrients such as catechins that could contribute to favorable relationships of chocolate consumption to insulin sensitivity and blood pressure. The caution, however, that because chocolate is often consumed as a sweet and contains calories, there are concerns related to its intake. They noted that body mass index (BMI) is a component of the metabolic syndrome and other elements of the syndrome relate favorably to moderate chocolate consumption. Therefore, they theorized that the benefits of modest frequent chocolate intake might result in reduced fat deposition; if this occurred, chocolate consumption might offset the added calories. To evaluate their hypothesis, they examined the relationship of chocolate consumption to BMI.
The study group was comprised of 1,018 individuals aged 20 to 85 years from San Diego, California, without known cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or other major health problems. All but one subject answered the question: “How many times a week do you consume chocolate?” In addition, BMI was calculated for 972 participants (95.6%) and 975 (95.8%) answered the validated Fred Hutchinson Food Frequency Questionnaire. Theinvestigators performed analyses with and without adjustment for calorie intake, saturated fat intake, and mood. The researchers found that fruit and vegetable intake was not associated with chocolate consumption; however, saturated fat consumption was significantly related to both chocolate consumption and a higher BMI. In addition to the frequency of chocolate consumption, the amount of chocolate consumed was investigated. Furthermore, activity (number of times in a seven-day period a subject engaged in vigorous activity for at least 20 minutes) and mood (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale [CES-D]) were evaluated.
On the average, the subjects consumed chocolate 2.0 times per week and exercised 3.6 times per week. The frequency of chocolate consumption was associated with greater intake of calories and saturated fats as well as higher CES-D scores; all three related positively to BMI. Chocolate consumption frequency was not associated with greater activity; however, it was associated with a lower BMI.
The authors concluded that more frequent chocolate intake was related to a lower BMI; thus, diet composition as well as caloric intake may influence BMI. They suggested that a randomized trial, which would evaluate the metabolic benefits of chocolate in humans, might provide additional information regarding chocolate and BMI.
Credit : Dr. Arvinder Singh Soin (Liver Transplant Specialist 27 Years of Experience)
