'Eat Chocolate Lose Weight' diet advocates daily intake of the sweet stuff

Chocolate has almost always been on the "Heck no!" list when it comes to diets, but a new regimen promises eating the sweet treat helps with weight loss.

Neuroscientist Dr. Will Clower penned the book "Eat Chocolate Lose Weight" and says consuming chocolate can actually help you eat less each day. Studies on thousands of people have reportedly proved his theory right.

"What we see in all these people is that the amount that they're hungry for at the plate will drop by a half to a third," the doctor told CBS News Pittsburgh.

"And the amount that they're hungry for, the amount of between meal snacks that they have, will drop by about a half."

However, this doesn't mean diet followers can chow down on bricks of the stuff each day and expert results.

Clower outlines specific guidelines in his book, including going with dark chocolate whenever possible. Already celebrated for its health properties, Clower stresses "the darker, the better."

Dark chocolate protects against sunburn and cancer, provides energy, stabilizes blood sugar and improves mood in addition to aiding weight loss.

"So all of the good stuff in chocolate comes from one place and one place only - and that is the cocoa," Clower said. Cocoa that's 70 percent or higher is best.

Clower also recommends eating chocolate 20 minutes before lunch and dinner, as well as five minutes after these meals.

"With the little piece of wonderful, rich dark chocolate at the end of your meal, it stabilizes the sugar onset into your bloodstream so that you have more of that blood sugar more often throughout the afternoon, so you're just not hungry," he explains.

Additional guidelines include not consuming portions larger than the end joint of your thumb, savouring instead of chewing chocolate, and eating the sweet daily.

"If they brain-scan people and have them eat chocolate while they're doing it, their pleasure centers are like a Christmas tree -- everybody's happy in there," Clower said.

The doctor predicts chocolate as "the superfood of 2014." His book is out as of this month and features recipes among other tips and advice.