You thought you were doing the right thing by swapping your milk chocolate bar for a bar of dark chocolate? But what if it changes nothing? Calories, fat content, nutritional values…
We take a look at the characteristics of dark chocolate and try to answer the question on everyone’s lips: is dark chocolate really better for your health?
Dark chocolate is no less calorific than other chocolates
We tend to think that dark chocolate has fewer calories than white and milk chocolate. However, on closer inspection, dark chocolate is no lower in calories than the others. Worse still, it is sometimes even higher in calories.
Generally speaking, the differences between milk, white and dark chocolate are only about ten calories. Enough to reconsider dark chocolate and see it in a different light…
Dark chocolate is fatter than other chocolates
Not only can dark chocolate be higher in calories than other types of chocolate, it’s also higher in fat!
To understand this, we need only look at the composition of the 3 types of chocolate:
- Dark chocolate: made from cocoa paste, cocoa butter and a little sugar.
- Milk chocolate: made from a paste, cocoa butter (in smaller quantities than dark chocolate), milk and sugar.
- White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, milk and lots of sugar, but contains no cocoa mass.
Since cocoa is very rich in fat, dark chocolate (which contains the most fat) is the fattiest chocolate. But it’s also the least sweet. So the question arises: is dark chocolate better for your health than the others?
But is dark chocolate better for your health?
If dark chocolate is thought to be healthier than other types of chocolate, it’s because it contains interesting properties such as magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and polyphenols…
Take, for example, polyphenols, a family of organic molecules recognized for their beneficial effects on health (antioxidants, anti-stress, anti-fatigue…). The cream in milk and white chocolate limits the absorption of polyphenols, whereas dark chocolate does not.
But it’s important to keep things in perspective. To reap the full benefits and nutrients of dark chocolate, you’d need to consume it in large quantities to make a significant impact. However, it is not recommended to consume more than two squares a day for good health.
In conclusion, dark chocolate is neither good nor bad, and not necessarily better than the others. One small advantage for dark chocolate: it generally contains fewer additives than white and milk chocolate.