What time of day is best to eat a piece of dark chocolate? What is the best time to eat chocolate?

The human body works according to its own internal clock, which experts call circadian rhythms. Each of us has our own schedule, but there are also general patterns. What works for our benefit in the morning can cause problems in the evening. The same food eaten in different time, affects the body differently! If you want nutrients to be fully absorbed and not stored “in reserve” in various places, remember when it is best to eat certain foods!

Sweet yogurt with slices of fruit, kefir or fermented baked milk - not best ideas for breakfast. When you are hungry, the level of hydrochloric acid in the stomach is high, and lactic acid contained in fermented milk products lowers it. This interferes with the normal absorption of food and can lead to digestive problems.

Best time: Dairy products It's best to eat after meals when stomach acid levels are low. It is especially important to adhere to this rule if you like fermented milk with probiotics. In order for beneficial microflora to populate the intestines and improve health, they need favorable conditions.

Potato

Mashed potatoes for dinner are as bad as... fried potatoes. This is because this vegetable has a high glycemic index. Potatoes are quickly digestible and give you energy, but they soon leave you feeling hungry. But there is a whole night ahead! And if you combine potatoes with fats, this can lead to weight gain.

Best time: Experts recommend eating potatoes for breakfast. Due to the fact that it is rich in carbohydrates and contains both soluble and insoluble alimentary fiber, it is easily digestible and prevents constipation. In addition, potatoes contain a lot of vitamin B6 and a high concentration of potassium, which is good for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

White rice, just like potatoes, is a source of fast carbohydrates. If you're on a diet, or just want to lose weight, you might want to skip it for dinner. So that at night you don’t have to run to the refrigerator for something tasty, but terribly high in calories.

Best time: Rice is good to eat during the day - for breakfast or lunch. You will receive a boost of energy to complete current tasks and can safely go about your business. And if you know that you won’t be able to have a snack in the next few hours, combine rice with protein food - for example, a slice of fish or meat.

Apples

Apples and other fruits containing fruit acids should not replace the main meal. They still won’t satisfy their hunger, but they will work up a considerable appetite. Eating fruits on an empty stomach will increase the acidity of your stomach, which can lead to discomfort, pain and cramping.

Best time: Apples - ideal food for snacks planned between main meals. They contain pectins, which improve performance digestive tract and speed up digestion. And there are also a lot of vitamins in bulk apples!

If you feel hungry at night, nutritionists advise paying attention to fresh fruits and vegetables. At the same time, banana high calorie content and nutritional value, it seems the best option dinner. But this is only at first glance! If you eat bananas on an empty stomach, because high concentration magnesium this can lead to stomach upset.

Best time: The ideal time to eat bananas is after a meal. Studies have shown that this fruit helps improve digestion and curb appetite. In addition, a banana is also good in the first 20-30 minutes after physical activity. Athletes often resort to it to close the “carbohydrate window” after sports activities.

Nuts

Nuts are known for their high levels of healthy fats, protein, fiber and other nutrients. Together, they help prevent heart disease and help you feel fuller longer. But eating nuts at night - bad idea as this may lead to weight gain.

Best time: If you don't want to dial overweight, eat nuts throughout the day as healthy snacks. At the same time, take into account the general daily calorie content, you should not exceed your norm.

It is better to exclude cherry tomatoes, pink, red and other varieties of tomatoes from the evening menu. They contain pectin and oxalic acid, which can cause stomach upset, bloating and disrupt your sleep.

Best time: But eating tomatoes for breakfast is not only tasty, but also incredibly healthy. Due to their fiber content, tomatoes improve digestion and speed up metabolism.

Meat

Meat and products made from it are very nutritious, but such food is a bit heavy for the stomach. Experts note that it takes at least 4-6 hours for the body to completely absorb meat. If you use it regularly large quantities for dinner, this can result in indigestion and gastrointestinal problems.

Best time: Meat is an ideal lunch food. It is rich in iron and protein, which help relieve fatigue, improve performance and promote muscle recovery. One serving of meat will provide the body useful substances and will launch the processes of restoration and growth of muscle mass.

When it comes to proper nutrition, need to be clearly divided healthy sweets from potentially harmful ones. Yes, cakes with butter cream, buns and rolls with jam can hardly be called healthy food (except for mood), but natural marshmallows, marshmallows and marmalade are a completely different matter! But even they should be consumed in moderation.

Best time: You can indulge in sweets in the morning as a dessert. Replacing your main meal with them is a big mistake, which can be fatal for your figure.

Dark chocolate

15-25 grams of dark chocolate per day helps lower cholesterol levels, control arterial pressure, improve blood circulation and increase brain performance. Besides, dark chocolate affects appetite, making us feel fuller a little longer. But it is also quite high in calories, so in the evening, when you are getting ready for bed, it is better not to indulge in it.

Best time: Dark varieties chocolate seems to be created for a cheerful morning. In addition to the main meal, they will delight you with a powerful boost of energy and improve your mood. What else do you need for a productive day?

Pasta as a side dish for dinner is tasty, but high in calories. But if you can take liberties with your diet, you don’t have to give it up. After all, such products are useful!

Best time: Fiber, which is contained in pasta durum varieties wheat, required by the body for normal operation digestive organs. And the low glycemic index, typical of durum varieties, is optimal for people suffering from diabetes mellitus.

Buckwheat

Buckwheat is often called women's favorite cereal. This complex carbohydrate forces the body to spend a lot of energy on its absorption, which, in tandem with low calorie content, plays into the hands of everyone losing weight.

Best time: You can eat buckwheat anytime, the only exception is at night. In the evening, the body's metabolism slows down, so even healthy food at this moment is undesirable.

Expert commentary

Elena Kalen, nutritionist, expert in the psychology of weight loss

Waking up on a sweet morning, some people realize they don't want to eat breakfast. Although they understand that, having gone to work, the next meal time may be very long.

What to do if you don't want to have breakfast?

After waking up, drink a glass of water; you can diversify it with additives such as ginger, lemon, honey, mint, cucumber.

Water will help prepare gastrointestinal tract to work, and after a while you can start breakfast.

Eat slow carbohydrates in the morning. This includes most vegetables, legumes and grains, as well as hard fruits. Your blood sugar levels will change slowly, keeping you full for a longer period of time, which will help you avoid snacking or being unnecessarily hungry during a meeting.

Eat sweets before noon

Those with a sweet tooth should choose a time for treats before 12 noon. The fact is that fast carbohydrates, and these include sweets, quickly change blood sugar levels, instantly provide energy, which just as quickly disappears within two hours. You can consume fast carbohydrates when you need quick energy replenishment.

Be mindful of fats at any time of the day

Fats should be chosen not according to the time of consumption, but according to their usefulness. Avoid fast foods, ready-to-eat foods, chips, crackers, donuts - they contain fats that are harmful to the body, which form plaques on the walls of blood vessels, cholesterol, which leads to health complications. Healthy fats found in foods such as fish, vegetable oil, meat, nuts, avocado, hard cheeses. The listed products replenish Omega reserves, which is important for the beauty and strength of nails, hair, skin, and also normalize cholesterol levels.

Spread your protein intake evenly throughout the day

Protein is used to renew body tissues and replenish important amino acids. Eating smaller portions of protein throughout the day will help maintain a feeling of fullness. Proteins include meat, fish, eggs, low-fat cheeses, dairy products, and legumes. Separately, I would like to say about athletes who, after training, need to close the protein-carbohydrate window for 20 minutes. And at this time it is recommended to eat chicken dishes or low-fat varieties meat, omelette or boiled egg, dairy products.

Whatever recommendations you read, try to listen to your body - it is your faithful advisor. Eat when you feel hungry. You should not have breakfast, lunch or dinner if your body does not want it. This food will turn out to be unnecessary for him, and gradually you will begin to “round up”. Your body will intuitively tell you what product it needs at the moment. Does he need energy or does he need to restore vital processes?

True fans of natural chocolate are deeply convinced that this blessed dessert is not just food, but one of the types of pleasure that has the same effect as, for example, melodious music or a beautiful landscape.

And if you, too, strive to rise in your love for chocolate to more high level, then find out how to eat this delicacy correctly and what is best to combine it with.

Tasting chocolate: achieving harmony of taste

Set aside at least a little time to appreciate the taste of chocolate in its entirety.

✔ Be sure to drink carbonated water first mineral water to clear taste buds. you will try different varieties this delicacy? Then separate the tasting of each type of dessert with a couple of sips of sparkling water, which will allow you not to mix different aromas and taste sensations.

✔ If you brought home chocolate bar in the cold season, then wait until the product warms up to room temperature, otherwise you will not be able to fully taste its taste.

✔ Carefully touch the rich brown surface of the treat: its texture may be not only smooth, but also rough. Admire the glossy shine natural dessert. Inhale the wonderful, magical aroma of real chocolate.

Then break off a piece of it, and you should certainly hear a characteristic dry click (the so-called “click”). In addition, when breaking a bar, chocolate “shards” should not fly in all directions. These details are very important because... they indicate the excellent quality of the product.

✔ Don’t eat the chocolate quickly, otherwise you won’t even have time to realize that it was in your mouth and you won’t get any pleasure. Place a piece on your tongue, but don't chew - let it gradually melt, and then press it to the roof of your mouth to taste palette opened up to the maximum and became rich.

When the chocolate begins to slowly dissolve, a range of certain nuances will appear in its taste, muted and almost imperceptible. Exotic woody notes, a little taste of unknown fruits... These subtle differences depend on the area, plantation and soil in which the cocoa trees grew.

Therefore, do not think that the dessert contains additives - no, these unique flavor characteristics are created by the beans themselves, grown under the sun of Bali, Ecuador or Cote D'Ivoire. Virtually all types of natural chocolate that you taste are capable of producing these amazing taste sensations.

✔ With every bite you eat, you will experience an increase in the effect of chocolate on your body and your spirit. Are you feeling better? Do you want to smile? Has your heart rate increased slightly? Feeling pleasantly excited?
Then keep tasting... Just don't overdo it!

Food for thought

● Chocolatiers are not against additives in chocolate. But with a condition: all ingredients must be natural. Great to add to dark chocolate. dried fruits(raspberry, peach, cherry, apricot); for dairy - all kinds of nuts, raisins; for white - pistachios.
Look for chocolate sweets hand made to achieve maximum benefits for your health.

● If you doubt the reputation of the manufacturers, do not purchase them chocolate treats. Do not buy chocolate at a reduced price: it is an ersatz product. Support Local Producers: Choosing Chocolate self made they have much more and more interesting things.

● Does your body tolerate dairy products poorly? There are many versions of lactose-free chocolate.

● Dark chocolate is good for our health, but when consumed in moderation. You need to reduce the portions of the delicacy if you have, for example, a tendency to frequent headaches.

● If you have a particular sensitivity to caffeine, moderate your caffeine cravings. chocolate sweets: dark chocolate contains a sufficient amount of it.

● Are you under 18 years of age? Do not combine doses alcoholic drinks And chocolate dessert.

● Confectionery made from chocolate are toxic to birds, dogs, and hamsters. Therefore, keep these treats away from pets because... they can become seriously poisoned and even die.

Chocolate & drinks

Chocolatiers offer chocolate lovers the best combinations of various drinks and this delicious dessert, which increases it taste properties.

❤ Natural chocolate is good in combination with tea that has floral notes ( green tea, jasmine).
Dark chocolate with nut additives is organically combined with Longjing tea (Dragon Well), which is known for its characteristic nutty flavor.
A great pairing is formed by dark chocolate with citrus additives and Earl Gray black tea with its bright scent of bergamot oil.

❤ In the endless variety of combinations of chocolate dessert and tea, chocolatiers highlight the following options:

Dark chocolate - with black tea “Assam”, red tea “Keemun”, green tea “Gyokuro”;
White chocolate- in connection with green tea"Sentya" or "Matcha";
milk chocolate - with elite tea“Darjeeling”, spicy tea drink “Masala”, turquoise “Oolong” (“Black Dragon”).

❤ Considered the most correct use dark chocolate with French roast coffee, espresso, dark roast coffee.

❤ It is not recommended to eat chocolate if your glass contains table dry white or red wine, since it is strong chocolate taste makes these wines tasteless.
The right combination - natural chocolate plus dessert wines, whiskey or bourbon, which have an intense aroma and taste.
Dark chocolate with a moderate amount of filler is ideally combined with soft, smoky scotch.
Dark chocolate and mint schnapps go perfectly together.

Now you know how to increase serotonin levels in a natural way. Eat chocolate correctly - and you will be in good mood Always!

Do you want to take your love for chocolate to the next level? You may be looking for ways to increase your interest in him. Find out what to combine it with and how to taste it, and get even more pleasure from chocolate!

Steps

Part 1

Taste chocolate

Take time to enjoy the sensations. Don't eat tiles good chocolate so quickly that you don’t have time to taste it. Take some time to understand the taste of chocolate.

Cleanse your taste buds. For full flavor, the palate should be clean, without residual flavors from previous food. If there is still a taste in your mouth, eat a piece of apple, bread or drink sparkling water.

Take a few deep breaths and clear your mind. When you focus completely on the chocolate, you will be able to discern the variety of textures and flavors in each bite.

Pay attention to how the chocolate looks. After clearing your mind, pay attention to appearance chocolate. Admire its brilliant gloss or embellishments.

Feel the chocolate. Gently run your fingers over its surface and notice the texture. It can be smooth or rough.

Smell the chocolate. Bring the piece to your nose and take a deep breath, closing your eyes. Wave your other hand over the chocolate and get a real sense of what it actually smells like.

Bite the chocolate. If you eat a truffle, bite it in half. When stored in the right temperature conditions, it should leave a bite mark.

Roll the piece of chocolate throughout your mouth. Let the chocolate melt on the tip of your tongue, then press it to the roof of your mouth and feel it melt. Most types of chocolate develop a variety of flavors at this point.

Use your sense of smell. Inhale deeply through your nose as the chocolate melts on your tongue. As you do this, imagine creating space between your nose and the roof of your mouth. When you succeed, you will be able to notice different flavors or at least they will become stronger.

Think about it. Before you take your next bite, give yourself time to feel the effect of the chocolate on your entire body. Do you feel an improvement in your mood? Has your heart rate increased slightly? You might be smiling because the taste is so good!

Keep tasting. When regularly tasting new types of chocolate, it is useful to keep a record of the ones you have already tried. Jot down your thoughts in a notepad or create a word document. Do this while your chocolate experience is still fresh in your mind.

Buy a nice notebook to jot down your tasting notes. If you regularly try other new foods (like wine and coffee), buy a notebook with several sections. In some stores you can even find special chocolate tasting notebooks.

Part 2

Pair chocolate with drinks

Look for similar flavor notes. Fast way Deciding on a drink suitable for chocolate will involve studying the taste of each of them. This applies to tea or alcohol, which are usually combined with chocolate. Examples:

Experiment with different flavor combinations. To begin with, you can try to find best combination drinks and chocolate with similar flavors to enhance the flavor profile, but flavors can also be compared and complemented.

Combine chocolate with tea. Light teas are combined with fruity, spicy or creamy chocolate. Dark teas go well with plain dark chocolate. The variety of combinations is endless, but here are a few more options:
- Pair white chocolate with matcha, sencha and longjing teas.
- Pair milk chocolate with Longjing, Sencha, Darjeeling, Oolong and Masala teas.
- Try dark chocolate with Assam, Keemun, Gyokuro, Oolong, Matcha and Earl Grey.
Combine chocolate and coffee. When choosing the coffee and chocolate you want to pair, pay attention to the taste of each individually. You can combine chocolate with black coffee or any other, adding milk according to your taste.

Prepare hot chocolate. You can make your own wonderful hot chocolate by melting a few pieces of dark chocolate in a bowl of skim milk. For best result You need to make sure the milk is whole and well heated (but not boiling) before adding the chocolate.
- If your dark chocolate drink is too concentrated, dilute it with a few pieces milk chocolate.
- Don't forget that a mixture of chocolate and milk is less healthy because the milk reduces the antioxidant capacity of the cocoa solids.
Pair chocolate and sweet wine. The strong taste of chocolate makes dry, light red or white table wines tasteless. Experts recommend pairing chocolate with a sweet wine that has an equally intense flavor that won't be overpowered by the chocolate.

Combine strong, aged alcohol and filled candies. Strong alcohol, such as whiskey or bourbon, is aged in oak barrels, which give drinks shades of caramel, nuts and fruits. Pair these drinks with similar candies to fully reveal the flavor.

Learn the classics alcoholic cocktails when mixing chocolate with alcohol. One of the varieties of the Old Fashioned cocktail consists of bourbon, drunk cherry and orange. Pair bourbon with candies that have cherry or citrus fillings to recreate this flavor combination.

Part 3

Choose your chocolate carefully

Understand the difference between cocoa and cocoa powder. Cocoa is the plant from which cocoa beans are grown. Cocoa powder is made from roasted, shelled and ground cocoa beans, with most of the fat removed.

Yeah! Are you surprised? First of all, chocolate is not a food: it is chocolate. Why do we highlight it and not put it in line with other products? The reason is its taste: it is so sweet and pleasant that we are ready to enjoy how it melts in our mouth until our last breath. He captivates us and we surrender without the slightest resistance. And all this, of course, because our body knows what is good for it...

Third half

The “third half” is the time after work, the third “half” of the working day. When the whole world is against us, all we have to do is eat one or two pieces of chocolate and we feel much better: chocolate is amazingly relaxing. We advise you to always keep a reserve tile in stock, because in a moment of fatigue we want one thing: to relax, even if at first glance it may seem strange. Going to bed in complete exhaustion and in a calm, relaxed state are not the same thing.

But the most amazing feature chocolate is that it can relax and energize at the same time. It contains three substances that prevent lethargy and apathy. First of all, it's caffeine. It affects the central nervous system and stimulates alertness, resistance, mental activity etc. Secondly, it is theobromine. It affects the muscles and stimulates nervous reactivity (necessary, for example, during exercise computer games). Thirdly, phenylthylamine, which has a psychostimulating effect and even acts as an antidepressant. And, of course, magnesium. Even if incompletely absorbed, it remains the most valuable mineral for nervous system. Well, of course, long live chocolate!

"White square"

When our mood is in free fall, serotonin levels follow the same downward trajectory. In such a situation, all products that can increase the content of this valuable neurotransmitter in the body are allowed. And here chocolate again becomes our assistant. Not only is it one of these foods, but it also stimulates the release of serotonin. However, do not deceive yourself: only dark chocolate can have a similar effect, in extreme cases, milk chocolate, but not white chocolate (besides, it is chocolate only in name).

Summary:

Who is right? The one who says that chocolate is a substitute for love, or the one who says the opposite: love is a substitute for chocolate? If you know the answer, you can send it to us at: colgourmande@aol. com. In the meantime, let's add that a couple of pieces of chocolate a day won't hurt you. On the contrary, it will even be beneficial. “People who regularly drink chocolate are different good health and resistance to minor diseases that disrupt the calm flow of our lives,” said the famous critic and gastronomer Brillat-Savarin.

Any child can eat a chocolate bar, but not even all adults know how to do it correctly. Many will be surprised to learn that the process of eating chocolate should be taken seriously and even follow certain rules, because in fact, the taste of chocolate even depends on the time of day and the air temperature in the room where you are going to eat it. Fortunately, very soon the Fifth Chocolate Salon will be held in Moscow, where the main experts in this field will gather, and we decided to learn from them how to eat chocolate correctly.

A few words about chocolate

Most useful variety chocolate - dark. Milk contains a lot of sugar, its consumption seriously harms the figure, and white chocolate, strictly speaking, is not chocolate at all. There is not a single gram of cocoa in it, but for traditional chocolate this is a prerequisite. Scientists have proven that dark chocolate is not only healthy, but in some cases even necessary, for example, for people suffering from diabetes. It contains greatest number microelements that lower blood pressure and blood sugar. Dark chocolate also has a positive effect on vision, reduces the risk of vascular thrombosis and improves mood.

Simple rules

Once you buy a bar, do not put it in the refrigerator; chocolate does not like temperature changes. Ideal conditions To consume this dessert - 22-24 degrees Celsius, moderate dryness and daylight. White chocolate goes well with nuts: cashews and hazelnuts, berries: strawberries, blueberries, and brie cheese. The taste of milk chocolate is best revealed by oranges, peanuts, goji berries and, believe it or not, bacon. Experts recommend trying dark ones with salted caramel, mint, lime, grapes or seafood. If we talk about compatibility with drinks, then white chocolate goes well with any white wines, dairy wines can be enjoyed with Burgundy and rose wines and port, while dark chocolate is best combined with red wines. Remember Golden Rule: there must be wine sweeter than chocolate.

There can be no strict rules for chocolate because it should be enjoyable. There are only recommendations that will help you enjoy the taste of dessert and feel it better.
Claire Coutin, director of the Moscow Salon of Chocolate

You can't do that

If you have never tried it before, then do not buy chocolate with a cocoa content of 85%-100%, it will seem very bitter to you and will discourage you from eating dark chocolate in general.
Don’t try to eat a chocolate bar quickly - before you even have time to understand what it was, you’ll have gobbled up the whole bar. And you won’t satisfy your hunger, and you won’t get pleasure.
It’s better not to chew chocolate - hold the square in your mouth and let it melt a little, the taste will develop as much as possible, become rich, and besides, you won’t be able to overeat.
Do not buy stale chocolate - it has already lost half of the most important thing - its unique smell.
Don't eat chocolate on an empty stomach. To enjoy dessert, wait at least half an hour after eating.

Chocolate in Belgium

The real capital of chocolate is Brussels; more than 500 chocolatiers ply their trade professionally in the city! In general, Belgium produces almost 200,000 tons of chocolate per year. There are more than 2,000 shops, 16 museums and 12 chocolate factories. The owner of the Belgian chocolate atelier, Frederic Blondel, once said that his compatriots would rather survive without the Government than without chocolate. True, we must admit that tiles are less popular here than sweets with various fillings. In addition, the Belgians divide the delicacy into chocolate “for their own” and chocolate “for tourists,” so when choosing a dessert, be careful and don’t grab the first beautiful wrapper you come across.

Chocolate in France

There are more than 300 sweet shops in Paris, and the chocolate croissant is an integral part traditional breakfast in France. Moreover, the French prefer not chocolates, and bars: traditional dark French chocolate contains the least amount of sugar compared to the “world quantity”, and the percentage of cocoa beans in it ranges from 62% to 86% or more. It is also known that the French use less butter and cream, which is why French sweets are among the least caloric, and French ladies are slim and graceful at any age.

We French take pride in our cuisine and take food very seriously. Of course, this also applies to chocolate. Chocolate is generally one of the most beloved products in our country; we even have two holidays on which it is traditional to give this dessert as a gift in France - Christmas and Easter.