Is Chocolate Bad for you?

Out of all the types of chocolate, dark is the most healthiest as it contains the highest percentage of cocoa solids. It contains the least cocoa butter, which contains saturated fat which is linked with increase risk for coronary artery disease. The other added ingredients are sugar and cocoa bean powder. White chocolate doesn’t contain cocoa solids at all, only sugar, milk, and also a small quantity of cocoa butter.

Cacao beans are rich in natural chemical compounds, called flavanols an antioxidant. It is found that consuming dark chocolate and other cocoa products significantly reduced participants’ LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol esp in subjects with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. But further studies are needed to discover what the optimal daily dose range is for cacao flavanols.

So is dark chocolate healthy?

It is important to remember that most chocolate is high in calories, fat and free sugars and so should be consumed less often and in small amounts. Choosing dark chocolate over milk chocolate may help you stick to smaller portion sizes due to its stronger flavour and is likely to increase the amount of cocoa flavanols you will be consuming. While it’s difficult to be sure about the potential health effects, it’s possible that there may be some benefit to heart health from cocoa flavanols.