Chocolate for breakfast
June 23rd, 2008 at 05:33pm Mike DeDoncker
New research has led to formulation of the “big breakfast” diet that includes milk, three ounces of lean meat, two slices of cheese, two whole grain servings, one fat serving and an ounce of milk chocolate or candy at the first meal of the day.
I read about it in a by Serena Gordon, writing for Health Day about The Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco.
The upshot is that the breakfast makes up about half of the calories the person will consume for the day — the rest of the meals are made up of protein and complex carbohydrates such as vegetables — at a time when the body needs energy but at a time when cravings are low.
Thus, eating the candy when a craving for it is low means it won’t taste as good as it otherwise would. The brain, then, won’t associate as much pleasure as it would later in the day.
Eventually, according to the research, that cuts down on the craving.
Gordon also reported that sedentary, obese women on the “big breakfast” diet lost an average of nearly 40 pounds over an eight-month study period.
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6 Comments Add your own
1. Robert Satan | June 24th, 2008 at 9:48 am
The question is, Mike, do you believe this? Could this possibly be worth doing, or is it just another study in a long line of studies that often contradict each other…ie, eat chocolate it is good for you; don’t eat chocolate, it is bad for you.
2. Mike DeDoncker | June 24th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Robert: It’s not so much do I believe this as that I’m intrigued by the idea that eating something like chocolate which — as you point out is the subject of a lot of debate — at a time when you may least crave it could actually reduce your taste for it.
The debate about chocolate, of course, is that while it contains flavonoids that may be good for you too many people tend to overindulge and then pay the price of its high caloric content with weight gain.
I think the concept of the “big breakfast” diet, chocolate included, is worth watching, though.
3. Javan | July 1st, 2008 at 4:08 pm
If I ate a whole box of Hershey’s bars, would I get poisoned like my dog?
4. Mike DeDoncker | July 1st, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Javan: Although I have a couple of friends who claim their dog eats chocolate without bad consequences, I think I have heard that chocolate isn’t good for a dog’s digestive system — so I have sympathy for your poor puppy dog.
A whole box of Hershey bars for you? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is sugar overload but, as far as poisoning, I guess that would come down to what you consider that many calories to be.
5. Jan | July 2nd, 2008 at 8:22 am
What do you mean by “one fat serving”? Isn’t that included in the lean meat and two slices of cheese AND in the chocolate? However, any diet plan that includes chocolate is a winner !
6. Mike DeDoncker | July 2nd, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Jan: You are correct that the meat and cheese would contain some fat. I’m no expert on the diet, but a serving of fat could also refer to any oils used to cook the meat, some nuts or peanut butter among other things. Remember, the inclusion of chocolate in this particular diet actually appears to be to reduce one’s overall craving of it.
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