It’s a sweet idea that sounds too good to be true - a chocolate that helps you lose weight. Yet according to the makers, that’s exactly what a new brand of chocolate will do.
Called Lola, the sweets are said to contain chemicals which trick your brain into making you believe you are not hungry and stop you over-eating.
Covcoa BIO in Spain claim that special amino acids contained in the recipe trick your brain into believing you’re not hungry
They also cost about £5 for a box of five, which might make slimmers and even chocoholics think twice before buying some.
The sweets, made by Spanish manufacturer Cocoa Bio, went on display for the first time at an international chocolate show in Madrid at the weekend.
One of the inventors, Armando Yanez, said: ‘People should eat one or two chocolates around one hour before a meal.
‘They’ll feel pleasantly full and less like eating to excess.
Fans got their first taste when the Lola chocolates went on show at an international chocolate show in Madrid
He said the green tinge is because the chocolate contains the dietary supplement spirulina, a microscopic algae with a high level of nutrients such as vitamin A and B12, which also have weight loss benefits.
The makers also claim that amino acids in the recipe stimulate the production of a hormone in the brain which suppresses the appetite.
The chocolates will initially be sold only in Spain, but may come to Britain if there is enough interest.
It is not the first time that the potential health benefits from regularly eating chocolate, especially dark chocolate, have been identified.
In August, a study reported in the Journal of Internal Medicine found that heart attack survivors who eat chocolate regularly are nearly 70 per cent less likely to die from cardiac problems than those who rarely eat it.
Other studies suggest that dark chocolate, which is rich in disease-busting chemicals called flavonoids, can lower the risk of blood clots, protect against bowel cancer and even help prevent premature births.
