It’s common knowledge that it’s not good for your waistline (or your teeth) to gorge on sweet things first thing in the morning… but it seems, this logic could be flawed.
According to The Telegraph, a new study (which we still can’t quite believe) has found that eating sweet products for breakfast can help with weight loss.
Researchers found that consuming dessert-like foods, such as chocolate cake or cookies, as part of a protein and carb-rich breakfast can actually help to burn calories.
As well as keeping cravings at bay for the rest of the day, it gives your body more time to burn off the pounds and in the morning your metabolism is more active (therefore it’s better to eat the items then as opposed to in the evening).
Experts split almost 200 clinically obese, non-diabetic adults into two groups. One group consumed a low-carb diet including a 300-calorie breakfast while the other consumed a balanced 600-calorie breakfast including chocolate cake.
After 32 weeks it was found that both groups had lost an average of 33lbs per person, however in the second half it was found that the low-carb group had regained an average of 22lbs per person while the chocolate cake group had lost another 15lbs each.
Speaking about the findings, which were published in the journal Steroids, Professor Daniela Jakubowicz said: “The group that consumed a bigger breakfast, including dessert, experienced few if any cravings for these foods later in the day.”
It seems the low-carb eaters felt less satisfied and full, leading them to cheat on the diet. It was also suggested that those who had something sweet at breakfast are more likely to keep the weight off in the long run.
While we’re not suggesting you ditch the bowl of cereal for a slice of cake every morning, it might be worth incorporating something sweet into your first meal if you do find yourself reaching for the chocolate later in the day.
It was also recently discovered that chocolate is good for pregnant women. (For some delicious chocolate recipes, click here!)
