Raw cocoa powder is popular now. Can eating this help you lose weight?

As the weather gets hotter, exercise and fitness are back on the agenda, and many people are starting to lose weight. Recently, raw cocoa powder has become a hot-selling internet celebrity, and many netizens say that they lost a lot of weight after eating it. Some businesses also claim in their promotional introductions that raw cocoa powder is rich in minerals and vitamins and can suppress appetite. Is it really that magical?

△ Some people claim to have lost 5 catties in a week

Claims to suppress appetite

Raw cocoa powder is popular again

"Raw cocoa powder and oolong tea" can be said to be a hot CP in the food industry recently. On social platforms, many people share this recipe combination, claiming that it can suppress appetite and lose weight. On a certain social networking site, there are more than 20,000 related posts, and popular posts have thousands of collections and likes. There are also more than 200 products related to raw cocoa powder, and some posts directly insert promotional links for the products.

The fixed C position of this recipe is raw cocoa powder and oolong tea, which can be drunk after mixing evenly. Some people will pair it with pure milk, while others will add black coffee. "Recommended to sisters who want to lose weight", "I lost 5 pounds in a week", "Supermodels are drinking it"... Such descriptions have attracted more than 7,600 likes and more than 5,600 collections. In the comment area, some people said that it is indeed useful and lost several pounds in a month. Some people said that it is particularly laxative for them; others questioned the principle of suppressing appetite and worried that adding tea and black coffee would lead to excessive caffeine intake.

Expert: Not very reliable

Recommend a reasonable diet structure

Can eating raw cocoa powder really help you lose weight? The reporter interviewed Liang Tingting, the chief nutritionist at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University.

Liang Tingting said that if raw cocoa powder is used as a meal replacement (without other foods), some people may indeed lose weight, but this effect is not necessarily caused by raw cocoa powder. "In the short term, because you don't eat rice or vegetables, your intake is already low, so even if you don't eat raw cocoa powder, you can still lose weight." As for the idea of ​​suppressing appetite, Liang Tingting said that if the human body does not have enough energy intake, its appetite will indeed be suppressed in the short term. She said that if it is used as a meal replacement powder in the short term, it can indeed achieve a certain weight loss goal, but if it is consumed for a long time, it is not good for health.

She introduced that "dark chocolate" is also a substance often used in the process of weight loss. It can reduce fat, lower cholesterol, protect blood vessels, and improve metabolism. "But these effects cannot be infinitely magnified." Liang Tingting said, "Some businesses will exaggerate, but we must look at it rationally. If cocoa beans have such a great effect, then they can replace drugs, but in fact they cannot replace drugs."

In addition, using raw cocoa powder as a meal replacement also has some disadvantages. Liang Tingting said that in the outpatient clinic, the patient will be considered whether he is simply obese, whether he has a family history, etc. "We need to arrange each person's weight loss plan according to different conditions." Some people use meal replacements to replace one or two meals a day, and some use meal replacements for all three meals in a short period of time.

When making meal replacements, it is important to pay attention to nutritional balance, and include the major types of substances that the human body needs to consume every day. Coarse and fine grains should be matched, and depending on the amount of exercise, the intake of carbohydrates in the staple food should reach a certain amount, and unsaturated fatty acids, high-quality proteins, and fresh vegetables and fruits should also be guaranteed. "If you only use raw cocoa powder, protein, unsaturated fatty acids, etc. may be lacking."