Q&A: Eating Milk Chocolate in the Morning Boosts Fat Metabolism

A study of 19 postmenopausal women found that eating a bar of chocolate in the morning affected their bodies differently than eating it at night, but neither led to weight gain.

Written byAmanda Heidt

| 6 min read

A bar of milk chocolate with the foil peeled back and a bite taken out

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Dark chocolate is often touted as a heart-healthy and relatively nutritious snack, yet most chocolate sweets are made using milk chocolate, a version that is higher in fat, sugar, and calories. Recent studies have found that giving rats milk chocolate when they wake keeps their circadian rhythms from being disrupted during simulated jet lag, adding to a long line of evidence showing that when we eat can have as much bearing on our health as what goes into our bellies.

To better understand how the timing of milk chocolate consumption affects human health, the authors of a new study, published June 24 in The FASEB Journal, recruited 19 postmenopausal women, who each underwent a series of two-week experimental sessions in a randomly assigned order, with one-week breaks in between. The sessions included one in which they ate no chocolate, one where they ate 100 grams of ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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