A Detailed Guide to Chocolate and How to Reap the Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

Posted on October 30, 2021

25 min read

When a sweet craving strikes, chances are that you, like many other people, reach for a piece of milk chocolate or dark chocolate. While both dominate the sweet and sugary market, we often take some of the facts for granted. For one, milk chocolate has a rich history but a much lower nutritional value compared with dark chocolate. Caffeine content, storage, and cooking uses are also helpful to know. Learn more about all things chocolate and the best ways you can incorporate this sweet treat into a balanced diet.

Table of Contents

Defining Chocolate and Understanding Its History

While the world of the manufactured candies you see around Halloween and Easter may seem relatively new, chocolate itself is said to be about 4,000 years old, per History.com.

Made from cacao beans, chocolate is originally from Central America, where Theobroma cacao trees thrived in the tropical climate.

Centuries later, Spanish colonizers learned of the prized crop and took it back with them to Europe. The treat eventually made the rounds in Spain, France, and then Britain.

It even gained a reputation for being healthy, thanks to studies of indigenous people who consumed chocolate and were found to have lower incidences of cardiovascular disease, notes the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Still, the chocolate of centuries past was nothing like the sugary treats you may find at the store today. The ancient civilizations of Central America were said to have used cacao beans to make a chocolate drink using a combination of water, honey, and spices.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that the first chocolate bar was created in Britain.

Eventually, now-famous companies called their chocolate goods by the brand names, such as Hershey’s and Mars. Chocolate consumption spiked at the turn of the 20th century.

It’s one of the first treats bought for holidays and special occasions, though chocolate is widely available to satisfy sweet cravings year-round.

How Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Are Made

All chocolate comes from cacao beans from the Theobroma cacao tree. Chocolate makers harvest pods from the trees, scoop the beans out of the pods, and then ferment and dry those beans. Next, they roast and grind the beans. To create chocolate bars, makers convert this resulting substance into a liquor (nope, not alcohol) then sweeten it, grind it again, and pour it into their desired mold to solidify, according to the Princeton Institute for Chocolate Studies.

Cocoa powder is the result of ground cacao beans.

The process varies slightly during the liquid phase depending on whether you’re making milk chocolate or dark chocolate. Regular chocolate — what is often called milk chocolate — is made with a combination of cocoa liquor, powdered milk, and sugar.

The average milk chocolate sold in the United States has at least 10 percent cocoa content.

Dark chocolate consists of some of the same ingredients but in different amounts. Milk powder is not used to make dark chocolate. Most dark chocolate has a cocoa content between 35 and 85 percent.

The higher the percentage of cocoa, the stronger the taste. Some people find the darkest of chocolate to have a bitter taste, while others appreciate its lower sugar content.

Mass-produced chocolates tend to have other ingredients added during the liquefying phase. Some examples include cocoa butter, soy, and other bulking ingredients that can help drive down costs.

Nutrition Facts for White, Milk, and Dark Chocolate

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a 1-ounce (oz) serving of white chocolate has 153 calories and 9 grams (g) of fat.

It also has 17 g of carbohydrates, all of which are from sugar, and 56 milligrams (mg) of calcium. Despite its name, white chocolate isn’t a typical cocoa-derived substance. In fact, it doesn’t contain cocoa at all, so it’s technically not chocolate.

The USDA estimates that 1 oz of milk chocolate contains 153 calories and 8 g of fat.

The same serving also has 17 g of carbs. Due to its milk content, milk chocolate has slightly more calcium (54 mg) than dark chocolate (though neither is a significant source of this nutrient), and milk chocolate contains 0.7 mg of iron.

Dark chocolate is touted as the healthiest of the chocolates — the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate guidelines even allows for it, in moderation, as a healthy after-dinner treat. It’s estimated that a 1 oz serving of 70 to 85 percent dark chocolate has around 170 calories, 12 g of fat, and 2 g of protein.

It also has 7 g of sugar and 3 g of fiber. The same serving size has 13 g of carbohydrates.

How Much Caffeine Is in Chocolate Exactly?

While you might normally turn to coffee, tea, or soda for a caffeine fix, know that chocolate also has caffeine. This is all thanks to naturally caffeinated cocoa beans.

While chocolate offers significantly less caffeine than the 96 mg in the average 8-oz cup of coffee, it will nonetheless increase your daily caffeine intake, notes Mayo Clinic.

A 1.5 oz portion of milk chocolate may have about 9 mg of caffeine, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Dark chocolate, due to its higher cocoa bean content, is likely to have more caffeine than its milk or white counterparts. Keep this in mind as you indulge in other caffeinated drinks and foods throughout the day as it can add up quickly. Certain medications, such as aspirin, may also contain added caffeine.

What Are the Suggested Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate?

With its high sugar and milk powder content, milk chocolate isn’t typically regarded as a healthy food. As referenced earlier, researchers found that the Kuna people, who lived near Panama, consumed large amounts of cocoa regularly and had good cardiovascular health. But they later found that the cardiovascular attributes were likely linked to the group’s overall tropical environment, not the chocolate.

Also, the cocoa used by indigenous cultures isn’t the same as the chocolate candies Western cultures indulge in now.

Still, researchers today are fascinated about the potential cardiovascular benefits of chocolate, especially dark varieties, which have larger amounts of cocoa than milk chocolate. Some studies even point to dark chocolate’s potential role in lowering high blood pressure.

Part of this is linked to the high flavanol content of cocoa beans, which are plant compounds that may help improve overall vascular health thanks to their antioxidant properties.

Such compounds may also reduce the long-term risk of cancer, heart attack, and stroke, notes Mayo Clinic.

The higher the cocoa content, the more flavanols you’ll consume. While regular milk chocolate technically contains flavanols from cocoa, these likely aren’t enough to have a positive impact on your health.

There’s also some research being done on dark chocolate’s role in the possible prevention and management of type 2 diabetes, although more studies are still needed.

For example, one December 2019 review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health noted some studies that suggested cocoa (and, more specifically, its flavanols) may have a beneficial effect on insulin sensitivity, and may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes.

The review also noted, however, that eating a placebo dark chocolate that had very low polyphenol levels had a negative effect on fasting insulin levels and insulin resistance. These side effects were not found in subjects who ate polyphenol-rich dark chocolate.

In general, chocolate with a higher cacao percentage seems to offer the greatest boon to your health. Cocoa loses some of its beneficial flavanols when it undergoes processing, and eating chocolate that’s high in sugar and calories is likely to cause weight gain and disrupt insulin balance.

It’s also not clear if there is an ideal amount of chocolate to eat for the most health benefits. One meta-analysis, published in July 2017 in Nutrients, examined in the review found that the diabetes-preventing effect of chocolate was highest at two 30 g servings of chocolate per week, and that eating over six servings of chocolate per week did not continue to lower diabetes risk, but this meta-analysis did not specify the cacao content of the chocolate studied.

Overall, if you’re looking to satisfy a sweet craving, you’ll get the most benefits from dark chocolate, not milk or white chocolate varieties. As a rule of thumb, the more bitter the taste, the higher the cocoa content. Moreover, to reap the health benefits of chocolate without adding too many calories to your plate, dietitians usually recommend limiting your dark chocolate intake to 1 oz per day.

Is Eating Dark Chocolate Good for Weight Loss?

Dark chocolate may offer some health benefits but only if it’s consumed as part of a balanced diet. Its role in weight loss is even less clear. While dark chocolate can satisfy a sweet tooth in moderate amounts, it’s still a high-calorie treat with fat and possibly added sugars, notes Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Such additives could derail your weight loss efforts, depending on your individual diet and goals. As with any other treat, it’s best to indulge moderately if you’re trying to lose weight.

Another alternative is to use plain cocoa in some of your healthy meals.

If chocolate is one of your favorite foods, avoiding it entirely could cause you to overindulge when you do give in to your cravings. Instead, keep a bag of individually wrapped dark chocolate or a bar on hand when the next craving strikes. Eat one piece of chocolate on occasion and enjoy it, notes the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

How to Cook With Chocolate and Recipe Inspiration

While a piece of a dark chocolate bar is perfect for a quick snack, this is not the ideal type of chocolate for cooking. Instead, you’ll either use cocoa powder, baker’s chocolate, or chocolate chips (either semisweet or bittersweet).

Cocoa powder is perfect for adding to smoothies, puddings, and even coffee.

Baker’s chocolate is used just as the name suggests — for baking. It comes in unsweetened, sweetened, and semisweet varieties. Unsweetened versions are likely to have the most cocoa content. You can check the ingredient labels to be sure there aren’t any additives, like milk, sugar, or butter.

Check out the following recipes for additional inspiration:

Coconut chocolate bars that can easily be made keto- or paleo-friendly
Freezer-friendly chocolate peanut butter cups that get extra flavor from maple syrup, vanilla, and sea salt
An indulgent chocolate coconut almond tart that’s naturally gluten-free and vegan
A twist on a classic recipe for dark chocolate chip cookies that are kept moist by applesauce
A chocolate banana smoothie that is hiding a secret, good-for-you green ingredient: spinach!

Are Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Good for the Skin?

Chocolate is one of those foods that may or may not be a boon to the skin.

The idea that chocolate consumption can cause acne is a relatively widespread belief — in fact, a survey, published in April 2016 in Dermatology Practical & Conceptual, of 49 people living with acne found that 53 percent of them thought eating chocolate worsened their condition.

However, the survey authors point out that no evidence exists to suggest this effect is specific to chocolate; rather, they suggest that sugar and other refined carbohydrates present in chocolate contribute to a high glycemic index diet, which may in turn trigger acne.

At the same time, a study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that participants who ate pure cocoa for 12 weeks had better UV-ray protection in the skin. These effects were not seen in study participants who ate manufactured milk chocolate.

Cocoa beans have also made their way into over-the-counter beauty products, though most of the benefits on skin health come through the diet. Such benefits include protection from free radicals and loss of moisture, which may help reduce signs of premature aging.

What Are the Side Effects or Health Risks of Eating Chocolate or Dark Chocolate?

The greatest health risk of chocolate is not necessarily the cocoa bean content but the other additives found in commercial chocolates, namely sugar and fat.

These can potentially derail your diet or weight loss efforts. Too many empty calories from added sugars and fats don’t offer the energy your body needs compared with other nutrients. When combined with a sedentary lifestyle, sweets can quickly lead to stored body fat.

Too much caffeine can also cause adverse side effects, such as irritability, jitteriness, and insomnia. While it’s not common to get too much caffeine from eating chocolate alone, it’s important to keep caffeine in mind if you consume coffee, tea, soda, and other caffeinated items throughout the day.