According to the culinary director, we'll all be tickling our taste buds with the wonder that is chocolate a little more
You wake up in the morning, bleary-eyed and in a rush for work.
The last thing you fancy is a bowl of porridge or some lukewarm toast, so you decide to opt against breakfast.
This is incredibly ill-judged, because the first meal of the day is the most important.
And some new comments from a food trend analyst could help you start eating it.
Foodie expert Liz Moskow reckons chocolate is about to make a triumphant return to our morning routines.
Chocolate, chocolate and some more chocolate
According to the culinary director of advertising firm Sterling-Rice Group, we'll all be tickling our taste buds with the wonder that is chocolate a little more next year.
As National Chocolate Week arrived on Monday, Moskow told Food Business News that the product is on-trend, reports the Mirror.
She said that new studies into cocoa's nutritional benefits could really push it high up on the agenda – and our shopping lists.
“There was a study that recently came out from Syracuse University re-touting the benefits of dark chocolate, specifically on cognitive function – abstract reasoning, memory, focus,” she said.
“The thought was eating chocolate prepares you more for your workday, so what better day part to incorporate dark chocolate into your meal than breakfast?”
A second study also noted chocolate consumption's help in aiding weight loss.
It works to reduce cravings by telling receptors in the brain that we're getting a much-needed hit of loveliness, while not plying our bodies with excess sugar and fat.
And here comes the good stuff – researchers from Tel Aviv University even recommend eating chocolate cake for breakfast, because mornings are when our metabolism is most active.
Moskow added: “Combining those two studies and the likeability of having dessert for breakfast, we predict that breakfast might start seeing brunch amuse-bouche chocolate cakes or brunch and breakfast restaurants incorporating a robust dessert menu."
But hold on one second. That chocolate cake you gorge on will have to be on the more restrictive side, warn researchers. Ones made with almond flour, for example, and with limited sugar. The two studies, as dietitian and British Dietetic Association spokesperson Alison Hornby noted, focus on cocoa extracts in their natural form, rather than Mars bars and Dairy Milk.
She told NHS choices that chocolate can be "part of a healthy diet" – but shouldn't be eaten too frequently.
