Chocolate Diet

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One of the most important characteristics of a diet is the respect of individual preferences regarding the taste and palatability of food.

Chocolate is one of those pleasures that are most reluctantly given up when starting a new diet.

In reality, as we will see in this article, using a little common sense, it is possible to safely consume this food, reconciling it with the other foods included in the weekly diet plan.

Benefits of Chocolate

The numerous compounds identified in cocoa, while differing from each other in chemical structure and biological activity, give this food important characteristics.

Cardiovascular diseases

Prestigious researches, such as that commissioned in 2003 by the National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition (Inran), underline the cardioprotective properties of dark chocolate.

These characteristics are linked to the precious content of antioxidants (polyphenols). These substances, in addition to slowing down the aging processes, would even have the advantage of lowering cholesterol and blood pressure levels. All these healthy effects are however the prerogative of dark chocolate since milk chocolate does not seem to have any beneficial effect in this sense.

Chocolate and Good Mood

The psychoactive effect, typical of any type of chocolate, is instead linked to the presence of small traces of alkaloids (caffeine, theobromine, phenylethylamine) and serotonin (an important brain neurotransmitter).

The combination of these substances in addition to improving mood and attention would be able to give a certain addiction. The so-called chocolate (inability to give up this food just like a drug) risks in many cases to miserably fail the food plan provided by the diet.

Additional Properties

Chocolate also has a fair amount of fiber, vitamins (tocopherols and vit. PP) and minerals (magnesium). Many people also attribute to cocoa a powerful aphrodisiac power.

Negative Aspects of Chocolate

Among the numerous nutritional properties of chocolate there is also a major defect linked to excessive caloric value.

As shown in the table, 100 grams of chocolate contain on average about 550 calories, which for a sedentary woman represent almost half of the daily energy requirement (just under 40%, see: calorie calculation).

This is undoubtedly a very limiting aspect, especially for a person who does not carry out regular physical activity and for this reason needs few calories.

Which Chocolate?

On the market there are many types of chocolate, dark, milk, spreadable, white, with or without dried fruit, etc.

From a nutritional point of view we can say that the noble part of chocolate is given by cocoa and cocoa butter, while simple sugars and tropical oils (palm and palm kernel) represent the unwanted components.

As for spreads, the percentage of hazelnuts can also be considered a nutritional quality factor.

 

From the values ​​shown in the table, the nutritional abyss between the two foods is evident:

• on average, commercial chocolate spreads (see Nutella) are foods with a high glycemic index and load (because they are very rich in sugars), with high percentages of long-chain saturated fats from palm oil.
  Milk derivatives are also often present and their particularly sweet and inviting taste often leads to consuming them in excess. These poor quality products embody all the negative nutritional aspects of chocolate
• in extra-dark chocolate bars with high cocoa percentages (70% and more), the content of simple sugars is much lower and tropical oils are not normally found.
  Saturated fatty acids, while being particularly abundant, are on average less atherogenic (lower percentages of palmitic acid and higher percentages of stearic acid).
  The bitter taste, moreover, tends to limit the portions of consumption.

Due to these positive characteristics, dark chocolate does not cause tooth decay (but prevents it), it is not involved in the appearance of pimples and acne, and guarantees a notable supply of flavonoid antioxidants.

Diet and chocolate

We report, for purely indicative purposes, the scheme of a possible diet for chocolate lovers from 1400-1600 calories per day.

Diet Day 1

• Breakfast: a hot chocolate with 6 ground almonds and two teaspoons of sugar + 3 biscuits (40 g)
• Snack: natural yogurt p. skimmed
• Lunch: pasta 80 grams + legumes (150 g) + 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Snack: 50 g chocolate flavored protein bar
• Dinner: 1 tablespoon of olive oil + vegetables to taste + 150 g of chicken breast

Diet Day 2

• Breakfast: milk p. skimmed (400ml), whole grains rich in fiber cocoa taste (50g)
• Snack: a kiwi + 3 nuts
• Lunch: pasta 80 grams + salmon 100 g + 1 tablespoon of olive oil + tomato sauce
• Snack: 50 gram bar of extra dark cocoa
• Dinner: 1 tablespoon of olive oil + vegetables to taste + 2 eggs

Diet Day 3

• Breakfast: 2 vanilla and stracciatella yogurt (tot. 250g) with 6 ground almonds
• Snack: a large apple
• Lunch: 80 grams rice, with grilled vegetables, 150 grams of chicken breast and a drizzle of oil
• Snack: a coffee and two hazelnut chocolates
• Dinner: grilled swordfish (250 grams) + vegetables to taste + 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Diet Day 4

• Breakfast: 4 rusks with chocolate spread and a glass of milk (250 ml)
• Snack: a large apple
• Lunch: bruschettone (80-100g) with tomato to taste, a drizzle of oil and tuna (a large 112 gram tin)
• Snack: 50 g chocolate flavored protein bar
• Dinner: 1 tablespoon of olive oil + vegetables to taste + pork loin (150 g)

Diet Day 5

• Breakfast: almonds (6), hazelnuts (8), dried figs (3) a tablespoon of raisins
• Snack: natural yogurt p. skimmed
• Lunch: fruit salad, veal steak (150g) bread (50g)
• Snack: 50 gram bar of extra dark cocoa
• Dinner: boiled potatoes (250 grams) a drizzle of oil, a lean beef hambrugher (100 grams)



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