You may have seen blog and news articles mentioning a study that proves that eating chocolate for breakfast is the best thing you can do for sleeping. However, many of these articles do not link to the study report or even a general scientific magazine cover of that study. Let's correct that here because on The Chocolate Cult we prefer to make our chocolate decisions based on facts, not feelings or hype. This is the study that I found that I think these other publications are referring to and it is from Nature.com. This report is open access and was published back on April 10, 2020, so you should be able to read it. Understanding it may be a different matter. Below is what I took away from reading it.
#1: This study is focused on looking at people who "suffer from circadian desynchrony" which are folks who work night shifts. The human circadian rhythm is based on a 24 hour cycle of daytime and nighttime activities. This cycle applies to most but not all humans though that night owl group seems to be a small minority.
#2: The theory this study looked at was whether or not eating chocolate at the high activity point (breakfast) helped overcome the problems of circadian desynchrony that someone might suffer because of jet lag or working the night shift.
#3: Testing Wistar rats (a special type bred for testing) the chocolate helped them recover from the effects of circadian desynchrony.
#4: Chocolate at breakfast also helped the rats avoid weight gain compared to eat chocolate at dinner time.
#5: The rats were experimented with for four weeks and given the chocolate at specific times in specific amounts as was as "worked" at set times.
#6: Not all of the rats' biological functions were affected in the same way by the morning chocolate but the overall benefit was good.
#7: The study suggests that it may not be chocolate specifically that creates these results but that chocolate is a palatable food which has high calories made up for fats, sugars, and possibly salts.
This study says NOTHING about humans and chocolate. It is suggestive and I hope studies will be done on humans but for now, all claims about the health benefits of chocolate for breakfast is more hype that companies are using to try and sell you their products.
Main Points of Study on Breakfast Chocolate
#2: The theory this study looked at was whether or not eating chocolate at the high activity point (breakfast) helped overcome the problems of circadian desynchrony that someone might suffer because of jet lag or working the night shift.
#3: Testing Wistar rats (a special type bred for testing) the chocolate helped them recover from the effects of circadian desynchrony.
#4: Chocolate at breakfast also helped the rats avoid weight gain compared to eat chocolate at dinner time.
#5: The rats were experimented with for four weeks and given the chocolate at specific times in specific amounts as was as "worked" at set times.
#6: Not all of the rats' biological functions were affected in the same way by the morning chocolate but the overall benefit was good.
#7: The study suggests that it may not be chocolate specifically that creates these results but that chocolate is a palatable food which has high calories made up for fats, sugars, and possibly salts.
The Honest Take Away from this Study
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