We already know there are many benefits to eating dark chocolate. (In moderation of course), such improve mood and cardiovascular health. But now a new study has told it can help give you a boost during your workout.
Dark Chocolate Can Improve Your Workout
The study oversees by research students at London’s Kingston University. Looked at the benefits of the chocolate treat to see whether it could improve fitness performance.
Likewise, amateur cyclists were split into two groups. The first group was asked to replace their normal daily snacks with 40g of dark chocolate. You see, dark chocolate is known to be rich in flavanols (found in the cacao bean). Which is thought to increase nitric oxide production in the body.
The others ask to snack on white chocolate.
The athletes ask to take part in a series of cycling exercise tests. To measure their performance, as well as have their oxygen consumption levels and heart rates monitor.
After a seven-day interval, the groups then switch the chocolates they snack on and test again.
The study found that the riders who had snacked on dark chocolate used less oxygen. When cycling at a moderate pace and also covered more distance during the trial tests.
Experts believe dark chocolate may have similar benefits to beetroot juice.
“Beetroot juice is rich in nitrates, which change to nitric oxide in the body. This dilates blood vessels and reduces oxygen consumption. Allowing athletes to go further for longer,” research student Rishikesh Kankesh Patel said in the report. Which publish in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
“Both dark chocolate and beetroot juice are known to increase nitric oxide. Which is the major mechanism we believe is behind these results.
“We found that people could effectively exercise for longer after eating dark chocolate. Something that does not establish before in this way.”
“However, We want to see whether the boost in performance is a short-term effect. You eat a bar and within a day it works -or it takes slightly longer, which is what the initial research is showing.
“There are also investigating the optimal level of flavanols. At the moment there is not a lot of consistency in flavanol levels in commercially available chocolate.
“Once we’ve found the optimal chocolate dose and duration. We’ll compare its effects to those of beetroot juice, and also test the influence of combining the consumption of both. As they produce an increase in nitric oxide in slightly different ways.”
There you have it! Dark chocolate helps your workout!
Make sure you try these dark chocolate-using delicious recipes. Healthy Gooey Chocolate Brownies, Chocolate And Raspberry Bark, Delicious Chocolate Truffles Only 30 Calories Each.
For the Dark Chocolate Salted Popcorn recipe (pictured above), click here.
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