2717: Chocolate and Hungry Athletes: A Dangerous Duo? by Nancy Clark

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily. Chocolate and Hungry Athletes, a Dangerous Duo by Nancy Clark of NancyClarkRD.com, and I'm Dr. Neal, your very own personal narrator.

[00:00:12] Hey there, Happy Saturday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or OHD where I act as your narrator of popular health and fitness blogs and always with a bit of my commentary at the end.

[00:00:23] Now we have a bunch of shows covering different topics, just search for Optimal Living Daily in any podcast app to find them.

[00:00:31] Alright and with that, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

[00:00:40] Chocolate and Hungry Athletes, a Dangerous Duo by NancyClarkRD.com.

[00:00:48] Between Halloween and New Year's Eve I feel surrounded by chocolate, it's everywhere reported a self-proclaimed chocolate.

[00:00:54] I try so hard to not eat it, but I inevitably succumb and I inevitably gain weight. Thank goodness for January 1st.

[00:01:04] If you share the same love hate relationship with chocolate, keep listening and be thankful this so-called bad food offers benefits.

[00:01:13] The Good News

[00:01:13] Chocolate is made from cocoa, a plant.

[00:01:16] It's a rich source of health protective, phytonutrients or plant-based nutrients just like you'd get from fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

[00:01:25] Two tablespoons of natural cocoa powder, the kind used in baking, offers the same antioxidant power as three quarters cup of blueberries or one and a half glasses of red wine.

[00:01:37] Of all the types of chocolate, Dark Chocolate is the richest source of phytonutrients.

[00:01:43] Unfortunately, Dark Chocolate has a slightly bitter taste and most athletes prefer the sweeter milk chocolate, which has more sugar and saturated fat.

[00:01:52] One phytonutrient in cocoa is nitrate.

[00:01:55] Nitrate gets converted into nitric oxide, a compound known to increase blood flow and in high doses and hence athletic performance.

[00:02:04] Other types of phytonutrients in cocoa are flavonoids, also found in tea, apples and onions.

[00:02:11] Epidemiological surveys suggest these flavonoids reduce the risk of heart disease in people who regularly consume chocolate.

[00:02:19] The Bad News

[00:02:20] Athletes like most people commonly eat chocolate in bursts, like a lot in a day such as a reward on a Friday afternoon or indulging on Halloween.

[00:02:31] Depriving oneself of daily chocolate easily creates urges to binge eat when given the chance. You know this scenario, Sunday is my cheat day my last chance to eat chocolate kisses for the week. I stuff them in.

[00:02:44] The question arises, would enjoying two Hershey's kisses every day reduce the urge to devour the whole bowl of them at once, taking the power away from chocolate.

[00:02:55] If you like chocolate too much to the extent you have trouble stopping eating it once you start, an easy way to take the power away from chocolate and other sweets is to eat it more often in appropriate portions.

[00:03:08] Trying to stay away from it will backfire. Think about it this way. Do apples have power over you? No. You give yourself permission to eat an apple whenever you want. So why does chocolate have power over you? Because you try to not eat it.

[00:03:24] To take the power away from chocolate, enjoy some every day such as for dessert after lunch or planned into an afternoon snack. By regularly eating chocolate, it will become a common place food, just like eggs, apples or carrots. So maybe give daily chocolate a try.

[00:03:42] Noteparens

[00:03:43] Denial and deprivation leads to overeating in kids as well as in adults.

[00:03:48] Letting your kids enjoy and self-regulate their intake of candy, especially Halloween candy, is the better path than forbidding them to eat it at all. Do you really want to be the food police?

[00:04:00] Living without cravings for chocolate

[00:04:02] Some athletes believe they are born with a sweet tooth, not the case. When the body is hungry and the athletes' bodies can get very hungry, it craves quick energy, meaning sugar.

[00:04:13] The solution to sugar cravings is to prevent hunger by eating enough quality calories earlier in the day. Unfortunately, I meet way too many athletes who believe food is fattening or they have no time to eat. They live with a nagging hunger that can easily explode into a chocolate binge.

[00:04:31] They are not chocolate hollocks, they're just athletes who've gotten way too hungry. Fortunately, there are ways to manage sugar cravings.

[00:04:39] One, prevent hunger by eating more breakfast and lunch.

[00:04:44] And two, plan sweets into your overall healthy daily food plan.

[00:04:50] Chocolate cake for breakfast

[00:04:51] If you would really enjoy eating chocolate as a regular part of your sports diet or your weight management program, I suggest you eat chocolate at breakfast.

[00:05:01] Yes, chocolate cake for breakfast enhances weight loss, at least according to Danielle's acupilwits PhD.

[00:05:07] In her research with 193 subjects with obesity but without diabetes, half ate a 300 calorie protein-based breakfast.

[00:05:16] The others ate a 600 calorie breakfast that included protein plus dessert such as chocolate cake.

[00:05:24] She instructed both groups to eat the same number of total calories, 1,400 calories per day for women and 1,600 calories per day for men.

[00:05:32] In the first 16 weeks, both groups lost an average of 33 pounds per person. But in the next 16 weeks of the study, the group with the smaller breakfast,

[00:05:43] complied poorly with the diet, and regained an average of 22 pounds per person. The dessert with breakfast group continued to lose another 15 pounds each.

[00:05:55] By 32 weeks, they had lost about 40 pounds more than their peers.

[00:06:00] Chacuba wits noted those who had dessert with breakfast had fewer cravings for sweets later in the day for two reasons.

[00:06:09] One, by front loading their calories with the 600 calorie breakfast, they were less hungry and less likely to stray from the diet.

[00:06:17] And two, when they satisfied their cravings for sweets or treats in the morning, they were less tempted later in the day.

[00:06:25] So what does this research mean for you?

[00:06:28] One, eat a satisfying breakfast that leaves you feeling content. Do not stop eating breakfast just because you think you should, but rather because you feel satiated.

[00:06:39] Two, if you want to treat such a chocolate, eat it at breakfast as opposed to overindulging at night.

[00:06:45] Really, is there a health difference between enjoying dessert after breakfast instead of after dinner?

[00:06:51] Even on a weight reduction diet, you should eat what you truly want to eat, including chocolate, in an appropriate portion.

[00:06:58] The bottom line.

[00:07:00] By no means it's chocolate the key to a healthy sports diet, nor is eating lots of dark chocolate preferable to snacking on apples and bananas,

[00:07:07] but we can certainly enjoy chocolate as a small part of a well balanced sports diet.

[00:07:12] Just make sure it doesn't crowd out other nutrient dense foods, as always moderation is the key.

[00:07:23] You just listen to the post titled, Chocolate and Hungry Athletes, a dangerous duo by Nancy Clark of NancyClarkeRD.com

[00:07:32] And I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:08:47] Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:08:50] One of today's authors Nancy's main takeaways was that yes, breakfast is important and you could possibly front load your cravings by eating something dessert-like first thing.

[00:09:02] If you're like me or like how I used to be for the longest time and have no interest in eating soon after waking up, meaning no interest in eating breakfast at all.

[00:09:13] I used to be able to skip breakfast and not have anything to eat until at least lunchtime, maybe even later.

[00:09:19] If I forced myself to eat after waking up in the morning, I would feel sick for most of the day. So if that's how you feel, I totally understand.

[00:09:27] But as I just hinted, that was the old me. At some point after reading study after study after study about the benefits of eating breakfast, I thought maybe I should give breakfast to try.

[00:09:40] So I started by eating just half a banana before I left the house in the morning.

[00:09:45] I realized that my body didn't seem to mind this little bit of breakfast first thing in the morning, so then I decided to gradually add to it. Maybe a bit of whole grain cereal with banana. Then maybe some peanut butter on toast with banana.

[00:10:01] Now these changes didn't happen overnight, pardon the pun, but instead it took months, but now after years of enjoying balanced breakfasts, I can say that I'm glad I came around to them.

[00:10:13] So if you were like me and the thought of breakfast makes you feel kind of ill, consider starting with just something really small and easy to digest.

[00:10:23] Alright that'll do it from me for today. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening every day. I hope you have a great rest of your weekend, and I'll see you back here tomorrow where you're optimal life awaits.