ChocoTabs® SPACCAFAME: the healthiest snack to stay in shape without giving up on taste

If you want to lose weight or stay in shape, it's a good idea to base your daily diet not only on three main meals—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—but also to include small snacks. These snacks help reduce appetite before meals, allowing you to approach lunch and dinner with less hunger and finish the meal with a pleasant sense of fullness.

A snack is typically a light and quick meal consumed between the main meals. It should not be confused with continuous nibbling throughout the morning or afternoon—this behavior is usually linked to emotional eating. A well-balanced snack, along with breakfast and an afternoon snack, contributes to the variety of foods and nutrients needed throughout the day.

Snacks also play a key role in keeping the metabolism active and regulating food intake, thanks to their strong "appetite-suppressing" effect. This eating pattern helps stabilize insulin levels and, over the long term, reduces the risk of diabetes and associated obesity.

There’s no standard snack or perfect afternoon treat—what matters is that it makes up about 5% of your daily recommended calorie intake. Fresh seasonal fruit, yogurt, or dark chocolate are excellent options: they improve concentration and provide essential vitamins without being heavy. Only those who engage in physical activity before a snack may require higher caloric intake.

ChocoTabs® SPACCAFAME is a dietary supplement in single-serving tablets made with 70% dark chocolate, with no added sugars. It contains Opunkhar®, a dry extract made from prickly pear pads (cladodes) from Mount Etna and carob grown in Sicily, supported by a plant-based amaranth matrix.

This exclusive formulation was developed by Nexus Laboratori to meet the needs of those looking for a low-sugar product that helps curb hunger until the next meal. Its composition is specifically designed to support weight-control diets by reducing appetite and increasing the feeling of satiety.

The pulp derived from prickly pear pads is rich in opuntiamannan, a polysaccharide known for its ability to bind ingested fats and sugars, making them less absorbable by the body, which then eliminates them. Together with pectin, also present in the pulp, opuntiamannan provides a strong sense of fullness and helps maintain a more controlled and balanced diet. It also contributes to lowering blood sugar levels, preventing glycemic spikes, and maintaining healthy levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.

Carob, thanks to its fiber and tannin content, performs several beneficial functions:

• Anti-obesity: Carob is rich in tannins, which help inhibit the activity of certain digestive enzymes. This leads to controlled malabsorption, which can aid in weight reduction.

• Reduced fat absorption: Enzyme inhibition and the gel-like consistency formed in the intestine both help decrease lipid absorption.

• Moderation of glycemic and insulin spikes: As described above, carob helps modulate carbohydrate absorption, thereby reducing glycemic and insulin peaks.

• Prebiotic function: The intestinal microbiota feeds on various compounds found in carob seeds, particularly soluble fibers and carbohydrates.