National Chocolate Week: How to consume fewer calories while eating the same

Adaptive thermogenesis sees the body speed up its metabolic rate

Eat it, eat it all

Fewer calories can be absorbed from chocolate if eaten in one sitting than if spread out over a longer period of time, according to scientists.

In a process called adaptive thermogenesis, the body speeds up its metabolic rate - the process that burns calories - when a large amount of calories are ingested at once - news that comes just in time for National Chocolate Week.

Professor Amanda Salis, a senior researcher at the University of Sydney's Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders, said the larger the number of kilojules in a food product, the quicker the body will rev up its metabolism.

"If you have them all [kilojoules] in one go you're more likely to induce that response to protect you from weight gain than if you have a small amount every day," she said.

But as with most good things, there’s a catch.

The trick may not work for regular eaters of chocolate, as the body adapts to changes in kilojules and adjusts the surge in metabolism.

"When you eat large quantities of ultra-processed foods frequently over an extended period, it actually changes your brain," Professor Salis said.

"It's like a drug of addiction in a way — it will change your brain and you will want more and more."