Noting that reduced-calorie diets are often difficult to follow because they often require elimination of certain foods, the researchers said that the solution indicated above had the potential to accommodate a daily snack without "without exceeding energy requirements, even during weight loss".
The 18-week pilot study of 26 overweight and obese pre-menopausal women, at Pennsylvania State University, evaluated the effects of a reduced-calorie diet, including either a daily dark chocolate snack or a non-chocolate snack.
At baseline and end of study, body weight and waist and hip circumferences were measured along with fat mass, lean mass, and body fat percentage by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.
The researchers gound that women in both snack groups reduced estimated daily energy intake, while women in both the dark chocolate snack and non-chocolate snack groups registered decreases in body weight.
"Improvements in anthropometric and body composition measurements among overweight and obese premenopausal women can be achieved with a reduced-calorie diet including either a daily dark chocolate snack or non-chocolate snack," the scientists concluded.
