A health advisor has revealed an unexpected help to losing weight – and it’s good news for chocoholics.
Steve Bennett, author of Fiber First, said Sun How drinking a cup of hot chocolate could help dieters lose a few pounds.
However, not just any old candy cup will do; Those who want to lose weight should use a homemade recipe, according to the author and health advisor.
He says making the drink with unsweetened cocoa powder can help you feel less hungry by increasing your fiber intake.
It is believed that many people do not consume the recommended amount of fiber per day.
Hot chocolate made with unsweetened cocoa powder and stevia could help you lose weight, according to health advisor Steve Bennett (file image)
However, it is important to do so as not only does it help maintain regularity, but fiber is also difficult to digest.
As a result, it keeps you fuller longer and can help you stop craving snacks, which can often be the cause of weight gain.
Steve told the Sun: ‘Having more fiber in your diet makes you eat less and keeps you fuller longer.
‘Cocoa powder, which should be the main ingredient in hot chocolate, is rich in fibre. The problem with store-bought versions in the UK is that they have too much sugar and electronic numbers. But you can have a simple, healthy version that tastes just as good.’
He added that most diets are based on having to give up things that people don’t like to do.
However, he explained: ‘If you put the fiber in first you can eat whatever you want afterwards but you will end up eating less because you feel fuller.’
Steve’s recipe for hot chocolate includes 200 ml of warm milk, two heaping tablespoons of natural cocoa powder and two teaspoons of stevia sweetener.
Not only is fiber helpful for weight loss, it has other health benefits as well, and a 2015 study suggests that people who eat a high-fiber diet are less likely to die from any cause.
According to health coach Steve, adding fiber to your diet can help you stay fuller longer and reduce your snack cravings (stock image)
The authors behind the study, which included 1,000,000 people, said fiber has the potential to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and several types of cancer.
People should be encouraged to increase their dietary fiber intake “to potentially decrease the risk of premature death,” they said.
Yang Yang, of the Shanghai Cancer Institute in China, and colleagues write in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
They pooled data from 17 previous studies that tracked 982,411 men and women, mainly in Europe and the United States, and recorded about 67,000 deaths.
Yang’s team divided the participants into five groups based on their daily fiber intake.
Those in the top fifth, who consumed the most fiber daily, were 16 percent less likely to die than those in the bottom fifth, who consumed the least fiber.
Additionally, eight studies showed a 10 percent drop in the risk of all-cause death with each 10-gram per day increase in fiber intake.
According to NHS guidelines, adults should consume around 30g of fiber a day, but most only eat around 20g.
“On average, dietary fiber intake in the U.S. and other economically developed countries is much lower than recommended targets; in the U.S., about half of what is recommended,” said researcher Victoria Burley. in nutrition from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. , who did not participate in the study.
The results of this study are “very much in line with previously published meta-analyses on the relationship between dietary fiber and the risk of major chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancers,” Burley told Reuters Health in an email.
He said the benefits of eating high-fiber foods have been known for decades, including reducing blood cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose and insulin, and possibly reducing inflammation.
High-fiber foods can also make people feel full sooner and longer, which helps curb overeating and weight gain, he added.
“Some or all of these factors may underlie the reduction in mortality observed here.”
It’s not difficult to consume an extra 10 grams of fiber per day, Burley said.
“This can come from two servings of whole foods, such as breakfast cereals, and two servings of fruits or vegetables, for example.”
However, he cautioned that the current study does not prove that eating more fiber is the reason some participants lived longer.
Their lower risk of death could be due to some other shared characteristic, such as an overall healthier lifestyle, or perhaps some other property of high-fiber foods, which tend to be nutritious overall.
