How much chocolate do you eat

How Much Chocolate Do You Need to Eat for Health Benefits?

The type and amount matters when it comes to heart and performance effects.

The health benefits of dark chocolate are widely known—especially its effect on your heart. But new research is finding that chocolate may help boost your performance. Here’s what you need to know before breaking off a square (or two).

Go Dark For Your Heart
Studies have found that a daily square of dark chocolate can improve your heart health thanks to its flavanols, which serve as antioxidants. One study from 2010 showed that a small dose of dark chocolate could decrease your risk of heart attack and stroke by nearly 40 percent.

But it matters what type of dark chocolate you nibble on. For the heart health benefits, reach for at least 70 percent cacao, which is fairly bitter without the added fat and sugar. And don’t forget that even though dark chocolate is considered a (somewhat) healthy treat, it still packs plenty of calories. A 100-gram bar of 85 percent dark chocolate, for example, clocks in around 600 calories, 450 of which come from fat.

Minimal Processing, Better Performance
New research is finding that chocolate—even at lower percentages of cacao than is normally recommended—may have a performance-boosting effect.

Recent U.K. research shows that epicatechin, an antioxidant found in the cacao (cocoa) bean, may have slight performance benefits.

The study, while small, showed that cyclists who consumed 40 grams of dark chocolate (Dove, in this case) a day displayed slight improvements in distance compared to their performance after consuming white chocolate.

White chocolate is highly processed, which means it’s lost most, if not all, of its epicatechin.

“The more chocolate is processed the more antioxidant flavonols, including epicatechin, are lost,” said Monique Ryan, M.S., R.D.N., the author of Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes.

Dove dark chocolate has high levels of epicatechin, study co-author Rishikesh Patel told Runner’s World by email. And a 2004 study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found it to improve blood flow in arteries.

But Dove dark chocolate is relatively low in cacao—only 53 percent. Which poses the question, does cacao percentage matter when it comes to performance? Patel and colleagues are currently analyzing different levels of flavanols in chocolate to measure their effectiveness on exercise. But the results won’t be out until next year.

The Takeaway
The more processed the chocolate, the less of the good stuff (heart-healthy antioxidants and epicatechin) there is. So while Patel’s study found you may be able to to get a small performance benefit from the sweeter-tasting Dove dark chocolate, it’s more processed than other options that may be better for your heart, like cacao nibs. Nibs, available online and at gourmet grocery stores, are very close to the original, unprocessed bean, with a texture not unlike a coffee bean.

“A higher cacao percentage will taste more bitter, so it really just depends on your taste preferences,” Ryan said.

But whatever you do, choose dark over milk chocolate, which has more added sugar and fat.

And while the participants of Patel’s study ate an entire 40-gram chocolate bar daily (1.4 ounces), Ryan suggests a smaller amount to keep your waistline in check.

“I would keep it to half an ounce or one ounce per serving—just from a calorie perspective,” she said.

Dove’s 40.8-gram dark chocolate bar is 220 calories and 13 grams fat.

I think I eat an excessive amount

I currently having a pack of these a day

Is there any other bad attributes to eating a lot of chocolate than gaining weight (I’m very skinny)?

I have a piece of chocolate a day, like a Thorntons chocolate or something, as a treat in the evening. My easter chocolates are arranged by use-by date because I know they’ll be lasting me till September 😛

Mmm I love those milkybar buttons!

I have one or two small chocs a day (like a square or one out of a box / bag or like a celebration side)
Never really go out and buy a bar of chocolate. I have loads of easter eggs left.
I’m one of those people who can break a square of a bar and then leave the rest.

I can’t moderate for **** with junk food, so I buy it on very very rare occasions and can eat like 500g at a time. Same with any junk food really, I don’t know why, I’ve not got a massive appetite or anything. I will binge on anything that’s bad for me, even if I don’t really enjoy it much and even if I get bored/full of eating it, I’ll just go on and on. If I buy a ‘family’ cheesecake I’ll eat the lot, can easily finish a multipack of crisps, no matter how many are in it, in one sitting. If I kept this stuff in my house I’d be twice the size I am. Suffice to say, my cupboards are so stocked with boring healthy food that housemates don’t even bother looking in them to see if there’s anything worth stealing.

Hate it when I go home, the chocolate obsession runs in my family so my dad always has buttloads in the cupboard. Not for long though

How Much Dark Chocolate Should You Eat to Live Longer?

Jenny Sweigard, MD, is a board-certified physician involved in patient care, including general medicine and critical care medicine.

If you love dark chocolate, you’re probably well aware of research that suggests it has important health benefits, mostly through improving heart health. It’s a bonus to justify your chocolate addiction in the name of longevity.   Learn what the experts say and what daily dose of chocolate is the most healthy.

The Flavanol Factor

The greatest benefit from chocolate comes with the highest concentration of cocoa, which contains flavanols, a form of flavonoid. Flavanols act as antioxidants, mopping up damaging free radicals that are produced during cell metabolism. They can also reduce resistance to insulin and make blood vessels more elastic, reducing blood pressure.   Since flavanols can be destroyed through processing, some researchers recommend eating less-processed chocolate and have advocated labeling cocoa products indicating flavanol levels. 

How Much Chocolate to Lengthen Life

Eating chocolate may have advantages, but it brings up the question of how much is beneficial and what the limit is before overindulgence cancels the positive effects. Suggestions for a concrete number of grams or ounces are hard to come by. A study of nearly 20,000 people, followed over a period of eight years, concluded that those who ate an average of 6 grams (0.2 ounces) of chocolate per day had a 39 percent lower risk of heart attack or stroke. That’s a very small amount of chocolate, perhaps only half a single square of a typical 100-gram dark chocolate bar. Interestingly, this study included both dark and milk chocolate.

How Often Should You Eat Chocolate

Other studies have looked primarily at how often you eat chocolate, rather than the amount you consume. A 2011 research review involving a total of about 114,000 subjects in Europe, Asia, and North America, found a 37 percent lower risk in developing cardiovascular disease, a 31 percent reduction in risk of diabetes, and 29 percent reduction in risk of stroke, among subjects who ate chocolate the most often (more than twice a week). This review, from the University of Cambridge, included chocolate from all sources, including chocolate bars, drinks, and snacks, and did not distinguish between dark or milk chocolate.​​ 

Not Too Much, Not Too Often Is Just Right

Despite the beneficial effect of different sources of chocolate in their study, the Cambridge researchers warn against consuming too much of this energy-dense food.   More recent studies have found no effect among those who eat chocolate and those who don’t on both mental and physical quality of life markers. 

It seems a little chocolate goes a long way in helping you to live longer. With some research saying it really doesn’t matter, eat the amount of chocolate that works for you. Don’t eat more calories than you can burn and don’t replace other healthy plant-based foods with chocolate. Enjoy just enough to fill the need for something sweet and satisfying so that it doesn’t interfere with your healthy eating habits. 

Katz DL, Doughty K, Ali A. Cocoa and chocolate in human health and disease. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2011;15(10):2779–2811. doi:10.1089/ars.2010.3697

Miller KB, Hurst WJ, Payne MJ. Impact of Alkalization on the Antioxidant and Flavanol Content of Commercial Cocoa Powders. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2008;56(18):8527-8533. doi:10.1021/jf801670p

Buijsse B, Weikert C, Drogan D, Bergmann M, Boeing H. Chocolate consumption in relation to blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease in German adults. European Heart Journal. 2010;31(13):1616-1623. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehq068

Balboa-Castillo T, López-García E, León-Muñoz LM. Chocolate and Health-Related Quality of Life: A Prospective Study. Plos One. 2015;10(4). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123161

Claims About Cocoa. US National Institutes of Health Information Sheet. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2011/08/claims-about-cocoa.

Buitrago-Lopez A, et al. Chocolate Consumption and Cardiometabolic Disorders. BMJ 2011;343:d4488.

How Much Dark Chocolate Can I Eat Every Day?

Science has proven dark chocolate can actually be good for your health. The key is portion control, and it must be dark chocolate.

What is the daily recommended amount of dark chocolate?

The recommended “dose” is approximately 1 to 2 ounces or 30-60g, experts say. Indulge in anything more than that, and you may be consuming too many calories.

A 1.45-ounce (41 gram) Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Bar has 190 calories. In comparison, if you ate a medium-size raw apple, you’d only take in 95 calories.

Therefore, don’t replace healthy foods with this treat. Just take into consideration you may be consuming a few extra calories even with the recommended amount.

Nutritional Content of a 70-85% Cacao Bar

What Does it Take to Burn Off These Calories?

Burning off the calories in a 170-calorie bar would require:

3 Reasons to Eat Dark Chocolate Every Day

1. Your Heart Loves It

What is it that makes dark chocolate desirable? The answer is plant phenols — cocoa phenols, to be exact.

Eating dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure if you have mild high blood pressure and you balance the extra calories by eating less of other things, say researchers in a report in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dark chocolate is also loaded with organic compounds that are biologically active and function as healthy antioxidants. These include polyphenols, flavanols, catechins, among others.

2. You Need Protection from Daily Radicals

The high levels of flavonoids — potent antioxidants — help protect cells and tissues from damage by free radicals. These radicals are unstable molecules that alter and weaken cells and often come from stress, poor diet, and the inevitable aging.

Dark chocolate also contains significant amounts of minerals magnesium and copper.

A 1.5-ounce bar provides 15 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of magnesium. Energy production, strong bones, relaxed muscles, and effective nerve transmission are all supported by Magnesium. That same bar also contains 34 percent RDA of copper. Copper helps the body create neurotransmitters and is associated with a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease.

3. You’re Happier With A Daily Dose of Cocoa

Chocolate and happiness have been coupled together as a “love food” since the Mesoamerican civilizations.

In those early times, chocolate was considered a luxury item and a valuable commodity. The elite made a drink of roasted cacao beans with cornmeal, vanilla, honey and chilies for those they loved.

Science has since found an actual chemical connection between chocolate and happiness. Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, a chemical that’s also released in the brain during moments of emotional euphoria. It also contains anandamide, a fatty acid neurotransmitter that makes you feel more relaxed and less anxious.

Choose Your Daily Dose Wisely

The darker the chocolate, the better. The reason dark chocolate gets all the accolades is that it contains lower added sugar and fats than milk or white chocolate. In addition, it’s higher in beneficial flavonoids.

Choose a bar with a minimum 70% cacao, and just remember — even the darkest of the dark chocolates must be consumed in moderation.

There you have it. Science says a daily dose of dark chocolate can be good for your health. No need to wait for a special celebration. Enjoy some today.

Want to learn more scientific tips and tricks about eating right and aging well? Here is your FREE A-Z guide on Living and Aging the Way You Want. Click the icon and get your copy today!

Need more reasons to enjoy your favorite treat? Learn why chocolate is good for you and all the benefits of eating chocolate

Finally, some sweet news: why chocolate is good for you! We love chocolate for its delicious flavor and creamy texture, and research showing health benefits might make us love chocolate more. What are the facts behind these claims, and are they a good reason to eat more chocolate?

Why is chocolate good for you?

Chocolate enjoys just as healthy a reputation today as it did anciently. The Aztecs named their bitter chocolate beverage «food of the gods.» Europeans believed chocolate was a general-purpose curative. Indeed, modern science has uncovered evidence for potential health benefits such as the following:

What are flavanols, and how much chocolate does it take to benefit me?

Flavanols are antioxidant plant compounds found in chocolate as well as tea and red wine. Research links consuming flavanol to many of the health benefits listed above. But don’t break out the chocolate bars quite so fast. You’d have to eat a lot of chocolate bars (and calories) to get the flavanol dose used in many of the studies.

A review published in the journal Heart compared cardiovascular disease risk of people who eat different amounts of chocolate. The authors concluded that eating up to 100 g (about three ounces) of chocolate weekly was associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk. However, there was a loss of benefit at higher amounts, likely due to increased sugar and calories. It’s encouraging that eating small amounts of chocolate may benefit us, but sadly, this review doesn’t justify indulgence.

The European Food Safety Authority allows manufacturers to claim that products with at least 200 mg cocoa flavanols can «promote normal blood flow.»

What chocolates have the most flavanols?

Although dark chocolate generally has more flavanols than milk chocolate, a high percentage of cocoa is no guarantee. The cocoa percentage on a label can include cocoa butter, which is just fat and has no flavanols. Processing methods affect flavanol content. For example, Dutch-processed cocoa powder is lower in flavanols than natural cocoa.

The independent testing company ConsumerLab analyzed the flavanol content of numerous cocoa and chocolate products. The analysis revealed that flavanol content varied significantly among products. Baking chocolate, dark chocolate, cocoa powders, and cocoa extracts had the highest flavanol levels. Many dark chocolates provided the recommended 200 mg flavanols in a one-ounce serving. Unfortunately, manufacturers are not required to report flavanol content, and ConsumerLab requires a paid subscription to view the analysis.

What else is in my chocolate?

The benefits of eating chocolate often come with a high-calorie cost. Calorie content varies, from a mere 15 calories in two tablespoons of cocoa powder to 200 in a Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate bar to 410 in a Starbucks double chocolate brownie.

Chocolate comes with some nutrition bonuses. A one-ounce portion of dark chocolate contains

Calories: 170
Fiber: 3 g
Magnesium: 65 mg (16% DV)
Potassium: 203 mg (6% DV)
Iron: 3.4 mg (19% DV)

Chocolate also contains small amounts of caffeine. One ounce of dark chocolate has 23 mg caffeine, whereas an ounce of milk chocolate has only 6 mg—relatively low doses compared to about 100 mg in a cup of coffee.

Take-away on chocolate

Who doesn’t want an excuse to eat chocolate? No doubt, knowing chocolate includes health benefits appeals to nearly everybody. But keep in mind that chocolate producers fund much of the research, which only reports minor benefits, as revealed above. A daily dose of chocolate doesn’t replace a balanced plant-based diet, full of multiple beneficial substances.

If a small piece of rich, dark chocolate satisfies your appetite for a sweet treat and helps you resist eating another dessert or a bag of potato chips, then chocolate has a benefit for you! Mindfully eating a piece of flavorful chocolate can be enjoyable and satisfying. If it also provides any of the claimed health benefits, all the better.

Share your love of chocolate with others by making one of these recipes that minimize added sugars

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Reviewed and updated on January 12, 2021 by Sue Heikkinen MS, RDN, CDCES