Is dark chocolate really healthy?

You could die for chocolate? You are not alone. And yet Brown temptation is regarded as a fat and sickening agent. An exception to all criticism is usually dark chocolate, which is even supposed to be healthy.

Chocolate consists primarily of fat and sugar, which also explains the high calorie content. By the way, this is not much lower with dark chocolate than with whole milk chocolate. You do not save calories by switching to the bitter variants.

It's about the cocoa

Interestingly, bitter chocolate contains no less sugar than whole milk or white chocolate. The differences in taste and appearance depend on the distribution of cocoa butter and cocoa mass as well as the addition of milk powder. Bitter chocolate contains very little cocoa butter, but a lot of cocoa mass, which is not included in white chocolate.

The higher proportion of cocoa mass gives the dark chocolate its typical taste, the higher the proportion, the more intense.

However, the different composition has not only effects on taste and color, but also on the health-relevant ingredients. Because cocoa contains valuable antioxidants that can protect the cardiovascular system and lower blood pressure. Insulin sensitivity is also improved.

The Problem: If milk is consumed simultaneously with the cocoa, these effects are largely neutralized. In other words, milk chocolate or white chocolate do not have these positive effects. But cocoa can do even more: The contained theobromine, a substance very similar to caffeine, has a mild mood-enhancing and stimulating effect. Together with other ingredients such as theophylline makes chocolate happy indeed. In addition, cocoa helps to keep our skin healthy and supple, which is why it is also included in many care products.

Art	sugar	cocoa butter	cocoa mass	milk powder
dark chocolate	47g	4g	48g	-
milk chocolate	48g	18g	12g	22g
white chocolate	46g	28g	-	26g

Average composition of chocolate varieties (data per 100 g)

What's really in it?

However, the chocolate manufacturers are primarily concerned with the taste, which is why the bitter flavanols, the mentioned antioxidants, are often washed out. How much of it is really contained in the chocolate is hard to understand. However, it can be assumed that a high cocoa content also leads to a higher proportion of antioxidants. While milk chocolate has a cocoa content of 25 to 30 percent, dark or dark chocolate, commonly referred to as dark chocolate, has 50 percent or more than 60 percent cocoa content.

If you opt for a darker chocolate, you will also get more minerals such as potassium, iron and zinc.

However, what is certainly in the chocolate are calories, and not a few. A 100-gram bar of white chocolate comes to a staggering 540 calories, the same amount of bitter chocolate still comes to 480 calories. Good to know that from a health point of view much less is enough. More than 6.7 grams per day is not needed to get the full health benefits, say researchers.

Conclusion: Do not exaggerate!

Another advantage of bitter chocolate is that it is much less tempting to eat large quantities. Because let's be honest: who really breaks off only one corner of a bar of milk chocolate? The sweet taste tempts us to continue eating, while we usually eat less of bitter food. Regularly a small piece of dark chocolate is really healthy. Whole milk and white chocolate, on the other hand, should really be perceived as what they are above all: sweets.

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