Dark chocolate energy for athletes

 

Dark chocolate energy for athletes

Chocolate is known as dark or black chocolate if it has a high percentage of cocoa. This makes their taste more and more bitter. University recommends a dark chocolate snack every day - especially if you are an athlete and want to improve your physical performance even further. Dark chocolate is supposed to do precisely this: provide athletes' energy and give athletes the decisive kick to the sporting performance.

Dark chocolate: the extra energy for athletes

Dark chocolate is already known for its many excellent properties, all of which can lead to improved health.

Because of its antioxidant potential, dark chocolate is very good for cardiovascular health, protecting blood vessels. It also helps against Alzheimer's, prevents cancer, protects the kidneys, and has anti-inflammatory effects.

Another study from April 2016 has shown that the tasty snack can also benefit athletes. Dark chocolate gives athletes more energy and gives them an extra edge in training.

Dark chocolate works like beetroot juice

Dark chocolate has a similar effect to beetroot juice, so that athletes will soon be able to put together an extraordinary diet from exclusively performance-enhancing foods - it seems.

Beta vulgaris rubra juice is rich in nitrates converted into nitric oxide in the body. According to scientists at University, this, in turn, expands the blood vessels and reduces oxygen consumption, which drives athletes to higher performance.

The researchers suspected that dark chocolate must have a similar effect. It contains epicatechin, a flavonoid from the cocoa bean that can also increase nitric oxide levels in the blood. To check this, nine amateur cyclists were used.

Dark chocolate as an athlete's snack

The bicycles were divided into two groups, and several tests were carried out on them to determine their condition and physical performance before the start of the study.

The first group should then eat 40 grams of dark chocolate a day instead of an everyday snack. The second group ate a snack made from 40 grams of white chocolate every day.

After two weeks, some tests were carried out again in the University. The cyclist's heart rate and oxygen consumption were measured at moderate training intensity and in time trials.

The groups were then swapped after a seven-day break. This means that group two ate dark chocolate from now on, while group one switched to white chocolate. Here, too, the corresponding tests were carried out after a further two weeks.

Dark chocolate snack: more energy for athletes

The study's grades were published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and showed that when the cyclists had sipped dark chocolate, they consumed less oxygen and covered a greater distance in a two-minute race.

 

The researchers around sports scientists and sports analysts said that dark chocolate is sure to become part of the endurance athlete's diet at some point as it is more energetic.

The following stage will be to find out how much dark chocolate, or what amount of flavonoid, is required to increase athletes' performance.

The energy combination for athletes: beetroot juice and dark chocolate

We would also like to see whether the increase in performance with dark chocolate is only a short-term effect or whether the product is long-term. Finally, we want to test whether the combination of beetroot juice and dark chocolate can have an even better product and, consequently, even more energy for the athletes.

This is because both increase nitric oxide levels, but not in the same way, so they could ideally complement each other. Also, dark chocolate tastes better to some people than beetroot juice and can therefore represent a worthy alternative.

 webtechradar