So many opinions about chocolate being healthy and chocolate being a detriment to your diet can make it difficult to decipher what's fact and what's fiction when it comes to eating chocolate. While the occasional indulgence of a few squares of chocolate won't hurt your health, indulging on a daily basis could be dangerous. The amount of chocolate that you eat could have a negative effect on your waistline by polluting your body with large amounts of sugar. Make chocolate an infrequent treat to keep your waistline slim and your sugar intake low.
Sugar Content
One bar of Hershey's Milk Chocolate has 24 g of sugar per 43 g serving size. Since the American Heart Association only recommends 100 calories of sugar per day, which is about 37 g, in eating just one bar of chocolate you'd be consuming around two-thirds of your daily recommended sugar intake with one treat. Sugar is in a variety of other products, so eating too much chocolate could spell trouble for your waistline, weight, teeth and even your cardiovascular health.
Caffeine
Chocolate contains caffeine, the same stimulant found in coffee and colas. While chocolate typically contains less caffeine than coffee, only 20 mg per 100 g of milk chocolate, it still could be dangerous for those who are susceptible to caffeine, such as children. Not only can caffeine make children hyperactive, but it can become addictive if consumed too frequently. Before you offer a piece of chocolate, consider whether or not you'd offer coffee or cola to the same person.
Health Food Confusion
Dark chocolate contains flavonoids, which can be beneficial to your health. Flavonoids help to repair damage done to plants, so some experts hypothesize they can give the same benefits to humans. The problem with talking about chocolate as a health food is that it can be confusing for consumers Some reports and experts aren't careful to point out that only dark, unsweetened chocolate carries health benefits. Semi-sweet and milk chocolate are simply sweets.
Alternatives
Consuming too much chocolate on a regular basis could cause you to gain weight. It's packed with sugar, carbohydrates and often added sweets like caramel, nougat and fudge. Even when consumed in dark chocolate form, chocolate should never be considered a health or diet food. Instead of relying on chocolate to improve your health and help you gain weight, look to fruit, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein to help you feel satisfied in order to prevent your chocolate cravings and keep your chocolate consumption to a minimum.
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