Brief Exercise Can Curb Chocolate Cravings
A recent study indicated that a 15-minute walk can decrease your consumption of chocolate by half during working hours.
The research was done by the University of Exeter. It turned out that employees eat only half as much chocolate as they typically would after a brief exercise, even when under pressure.
The research made use of a simulated work environment and 78 regular chocolate-eaters, who did not have any chocolate in the past two days, took part.
Two groups were required to walk on a treadmill for 15 minutes and were then given work to complete at their designated desks. One group’s tasks were much easier and less stressful as compared to the other group.
The other two groups were asked to rest before finishing the same tasks as the first batch. Just like the preceding two groups, one group’s tasks were less challenging and less demanding. Chocolate was put in a bowl the whole time they were working so they can reach for it easily.
Those who had a brief walk on the treadmill consumed about 15g, those who had a rest had about 28g. 15g is equivalent to a ‘treat size’ or ‘fun size’ chocolate bar.
The challenge or difficulty of the task they had to do didn’t affect their consumption of chocolate. Therefore, stress had nothing to do with their sweet-tooth cravings.
Professor Adrian Taylor of the University of Exeter, lead researcher, said: “We know that snacking on high calorie foods, like chocolate, at work can become a mindless habit and can lead to weight gain over time,”.
“We often feel that these snacks give us an energy boost, or help us deal with the stress of our jobs, including boredom. People often find it difficult to cut down on their daily treats but this study shows that by taking a short walk, they are able to regulate their intake by half.”, he added.
True enough, exercise has incredible impacts on mood and energy levels that it is even deemed to have the potential in managing addictions.
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: chocolate craving, chocolate research, exercise
Chocolate Fitness
Regular ingestion of chocolate has been recently associated with healthy weight, according to a study involving 1,000 adults done at the University of California at San Diego.
Dr. Beatrice Golomb, who led the research which is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, said: “People have just assumed that because it comes with calories and it’s typically eaten as a sweet… it would inherently have been one way: bad,”
This particular study involved 1,000 mostly middle-aged adults who had their dose of exercise thrice a week and had their dose of chocolate twice every week. Those who had more chocolate usually had lower body mass indexes.
It’s no surprise that chocolate makers will lay out the benefits of chocolate, and so will fitness trainers. Many personal trainers are now linking chocolate to fitness, especially when you eat it after a strenuous workout or right after exercising.
Blake Raun, a trainer at Lifetime Fitness in Chicago, said: “Chocolate can increase one’s resting metabolic rate,” He added: “Having a higher resting metabolic rate means better metabolism and the more calories one can burn.”
The resting metabolic rate (RMR) refers to the minimum amount of calories that the body requires in backing up the basic physiological functions. Nevertheless, fitness trainers are not suggesting chocolate to be a separate supplement to their client, but they know that chocolate really packs a lot of benefits in exercise performance.
Golomb also acknowledged the benefits of chocolate in fitness. She also mentioned how chocolate milk is so popular as a sports drink during and after a strenuous workout in this time and age. She cited the results from the research that involved lab rats.
She said: “Chocolate essentially acted as an exercise magnet, allowing rats to run farther and increase muscle mass,” She also said that the research involving rats have indicated that these animals had a noticeable increase in their endurance, thus giving a reason to anticipate this pattern in humans.
The next time you want to hit the gym, you might want to have some chocolate with you. You can share it with your gym buddies, as well!
Categories: chocolate articles Tags: chocolate studies, exercise, fitness, milk chocolate, research, week
