Can Eating Chocolate for Breakfast Really Lower Your Blood Sugar After Menopause?

If you’re watching your blood sugar, you might think you need to swear off all of your favorite sweet treats. Certainly no more milk chocolate mochas in the morning or dark chocolate chip pancakes, right? Well, research suggests chocolate may actually offer blood sugar benefits you didn’t realize, particularly when you have it at breakfast. Below, we spoke to experts to break down the research and take a closer look at the study’s exciting findings—including why it may be worth eating a bit of chocolate for breakfast (yes, really!). 

What are the health benefits of chocolate? 

So often conversations center around how to cut out foods to be healthy, but chocolate offers some very real benefits that shouldn’t be overlooked. 

“There have been multiple studies on the benefits of chocolate,” says Nicolette M. Pace, MS, RDN, founder of NutriSource Inc. “It’s very, very rich in polyphenol content, which acts like an antioxidant.”

Pace adds that chocolate has many similar properties to green tea, including plant compounds like catechins and epicatechins. She also says that the cocoa in chocolate acts as a prebiotic, feeding beneficial gut bacteria that may influence appetite, metabolism and blood sugar regulation. (You can learn more about the benefits of dark chocolate here.)

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What the research shows on chocolate for blood sugar 

In a small study published in The FASEB Journal, 19 postmenopausal women either ate 100 grams (that’s about 3.5 ounces) of milk chocolate within one hour of waking up, within one hour before bedtime or ate no chocolate at all for two weeks while following their regular diet. The chocolate, equivalent to a little more than two Hershey bars, contained 542 calories per serving.

While researchers found no significant changes in body weight, participants’ fasting glucose levels were 4.9 percent higher when they ate chocolate at night compared to when they ate it in the morning. However, eating chocolate in the morning lowered fasting blood glucose levels by 4.4 percent compared to not eating chocolate at all. Plus morning chocolate eaters saw their waist circumference drop by 1.7 percent and reported feeling less hungry too.

While these results are exciting, Avery Zenker, RD, dietitian at MyHealthTeam, notes that since the study was small and lasted only two weeks, more research is needed to determine whether eating chocolate for breakfast can consistently improve blood sugar.

How eating chocolate for breakfast lowers your blood sugar after menopause

“Existing evidence has found that the flavanols in cocoa have antioxidant effects that may improve metabolic health and insulin sensitivity,” says Zenker. “Milk chocolate isn’t nearly as high in polyphenols as dark chocolate, but the study used a high quantity of milk chocolate, which could have been enough to deliver a meaningful dose of flavanols.”

And why did morning chocolate specifically play a role in better blood sugar levels? Zenker says that morning chocolate intake reduced the desire for sweets in the study. She adds that allowing ourselves to enjoy sweets may help reduce the scarcity mindset around food, which can cause stronger cravings and overeating later.

“Participants who consumed the chocolate in the morning may have consumed a larger proportion of their daily calories earlier in the day compared to those who ate chocolate at night,” adds Zenker. “The calorie distribution through the day has an impact on blood sugar levels, physical activity and appetite.” 

How to eat chocolate for breakfast and lower your blood sugar 

If this news has you itching to add chocolate to your breakfast routine, but you aren’t quite sure how to do it while still maximizing blood-sugar benefits, our experts share some helpful tips:

Go for dark chocolate  

While the study participants used milk chocolate and, as Zenker noted, the quantity in the study could have been enough to provide a meaningful amount of antioxidants, your best bet is generally dark chocolate.

“In general, dark chocolate is more consistently linked to health benefits,” says Zenker. “Dark chocolate is also usually lower in sugar and higher in fiber, which tends to be better for blood sugar than milk chocolate. Aim for dark chocolate with at least 75 to 80 percent cocoa solids, as it contains more flavonols.”

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Pair it with fiber and protein 

“Pairing chocolate with fiber- and protein-rich foods can help slow the blood sugar response,” explains Zenker. She recommends adding no more than 20 to 30 grams of chocolate to a balanced breakfast containing both protein and fiber. “Fiber is found in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds,” she adds. 

Not sure where to start? Pace says this hack could be as simple as adding a few dark chocolate shavings to your regular coffee, ricotta or even cottage cheese. She also suggests combining dark chocolate with cinnamon, which she says also has insulin-enhancing properties.

Zenker recommends getting lab work done to check your blood sugar levels before adding chocolate to your breakfast regularly. Once you’ve gotten your results and the go-ahead from your doctor, Pace recommends incorporating dark chocolate into your breakfast three times a week.

The bottom line on chocolate and blood sugar 

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When it comes to maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, it may feel like you need to say goodbye to all the things you love to stay on track, including your favorite sweet treats. Fortunately, adding a little fun back into your diet in the form of dark chocolate at breakfast time may actually do some good.

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