Contents:
Medical Video: The AMAZING Benefits Of Dark Chocolate!
The ideal breakfast menu usually does not contain chocolate. Even chocolate is not the main food in a typical Indonesian breakfast menu, which incidentally consists of rice and various savory dishes. But what is wrong with occasionally breaking traditions for something new, let alone proven to be healthy?
Yes, a number of scientific studies provide compelling reasons why chocolate can be part of a delicious and healthy breakfast menu.
Chocolate helps improve brain sharpness
Get used to eating chocolate, especially in the morning at breakfast, reportedly beneficial to the smooth working of the brain. To be able to work optimally, the part of your brain that is used to continue working will require more fuel. That is, the more smoothly the fresh blood supply to the brain, the higher the nerve activity of the brain.
Reporting from Boston Magazine, Dr. Farzaneh Sorond, chairman of the study and a neurologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, said that chocolate increases blood supply to the brain, especially in people with impaired blood flow.
Sorond and a joint research team from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women 's Hospital investigated the health benefits of flavanol, a natural antioxidant compound found in chocolate fruit, and its effect on blood pressure. Flavanols in the process form chemicals called nitric oxide when absorbed into the blood. Nitric oxide has been shown to relax blood vessels.
There are many blood pressure medications that work to affect nitric oxide levels in the blood, so researchers strongly suspect that flavanols can have the same treatment effect. Based on this study, many doctors in the United States began prescribing cocoa powder for their patients at risk of hypertension because cocoa is proven to reduce the risk of heart disease by reducing blood pressure.
READ ALSO: 12 Foods That Can Reduce Blood Pressure
The Sorond study and the team later concluded that regular consumption of cocoa, the purest form of chocolate, can improve brain cognitive function: up to a 30 percent increase in sharpness of memory and thinking ability among subjects who have impaired blood flow to their brains after 30 days of regular consumption of a cup of drink warm chocolate twice a day - morning and night before going to bed.
Chocolate breakfast helps you lose weight
Not only is chocolate breakfast useful for brain alertness, but this sweet black may also be effective for suppressing appetite and other bad eating habits throughout the day.
To prove it, the research team from Tel Aviv University conducted a 32-week in-depth study of obese clinical people and found that those who included chocolate (cake, cookies, or bars) as part of the average 600-calorie breakfast menu cut 18 kilograms more than those who ate smaller carbohydrate breakfasts in smaller portions, 300 calories - even though these two groups consumed the same daily total calories (1,600 for men; 1,400 for women).
READ ALSO: How Minimum Calories Should Be Filled During Diet?
Interestingly, a full breakfast menu, including protein, carbohydrates and chocolate, helps you lose weight and keep it longer. Not only do you have a longer remaining time to burn calories from this super filling (and satisfying) breakfast, but it can also reduce the urge to snack on empty calorie snacks throughout the day.
Angela Ginn, a registered dietitian from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, reported from Self, agreed to the results of the above study and further explained that the main key to a healthy diet instead of being taxing starves in the morning. Breakfast is a "iftar" menu after a long, deep sleep. That is, the body becomes non-active throughout the night so that the first meal in the morning is an important fuel to revive a dead machine. Ginn continued, so that you don't suffer from sugar crush, aka a short energy jump that immediately makes you sluggish, be sure to add protein and / or healthy fat to your dinner plate.
READ ALSO: Healthy Chocolate Cake Recipes for Diabetics
Want to have a healthy chocolate breakfast but what should you be confused about? Check the list of recommended recipes below for your inspiration.
Chocolate chip pancake recipe for breakfast
- Preparation time: 20 minutes
- Portion: 2-3 people
What you need:
- 65 grams of whole wheat flour
- 63 grams of all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 125 grams of unsweetened apple sauce
- 250 ml of low-fat white milk
- 3 egg whites
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 50 grams of chocolate chips
- Natural honey, just enough for topping
How to make:
- In a large bowl, stir together until evenly distributed: flour, wheat flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In separate containers, mix well: apple sauce, almond milk, egg white, oil, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture, stirring slowly.
- Heat the Teflon on medium heat. Put a little oil to coat the surface so it doesn't stick. With a vegetable spoon, spoon the pancake mixture to taste, pour it onto Teflon. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Cook until small bubbles on the surface of the pancake are evenly distributed, for 1.5 minutes. Turn the pancakes over and cook the other side, cooking for 1.5 minutes. Lift
- Repeat for the rest of the pancake mixture.
- To serve, arrange two-three pancakes on a serving plate and pour a little honey on top.
