Eat chocolate and lose weight! That seems like a ludicrous proposition, but is there some truth to the health benefits of eating chocolate?
Halloween season marks the unofficial beginning of chocolate season. This season is marked by buckets of Halloween treats, flows into the culinary delights of both Thanksgiving feasts and Christmas cookies to stockings hung by the chimney full of more chocolate.
According to Thrillist, the top 10 best Halloween candies of all time are all made with chocolate, with the #1 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to Snickers to #10 Hershey’s chocolate bars. Considering the average American spends $25 per person on Halloween candy (or 2.6 billion annually), that is a lot of chocolate!
Further complicating this year’s festivities is the fear that trick-or-treating during a pandemic could potentially exacerbate the rising rates of COVID infections. If you have already bought your $25 of Halloween candy, you might find yourself with a full bowl of candy staring at you on November 1.
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year, and I certainly get “in the mood” by decorating, carving pumpkins, and certainly buying Halloween candy (even though our house traditionally does not get many trick-or-treaters). As a woman who used to top the scales at 290 pounds, I also don’t really care to fight the very real urge of eating all the candy.
This is where we consider whether chocolate is evil, or “bad” for us. Before we launch into the health benefits of eating chocolate, let me get one thing clear. Food is never BAD, unless it puts us in the hospital due to an allergy. There are some foods that are trickier for us personally, such as trigger foods or ones that we cannot avoid bingeing on. But, food is no more evil than you or I.
Is Chocolate Good for You?
You are probably already aware that not all chocolate is created equal (or metabolized equal in your body). Eating a handful of M&Ms or Kit-Kats will certainly not help you lose weight, improve your blood sugar, or give you energy (after that initial high, that is).
Let’s take a look, then, at the different types of chocolate, as shown on Simply Chocolate.
- Unsweetened chocolate (aka baking chocolate)
100% cacao, as held together by cocoa butter
- Cocoa powder
100% cacao, no cocoa butter
- Dark chocolate
Contains over 70% cacao, with bitterness ranging by area/brand.
- Bittersweet chocolate
70% cacao, and 30% sugar, simply known as “dark chocolate” in Europe.
- Semi-sweet chocolate
60% cacao, 40% sugar- very versatile and used for eating, baking, or decorating.
- Milk chocolate
Only 10 – 40% cacao mixed with sugar and milk solids. Occasionally vanilla is added extra flavor and lecithin for smoothness.
- White chocolate
No cacao- this is only cocoa butter, sugar and vanilla.
So, what is cacao, and how does it fit into the nutritional benefits of chocolate?
Cacao beans grow on trees found in Central and South America. When these beans are processed, they become cocoa and chocolate, but the raw and organic beans keep many of the super powers of cacao that are lost through processing.
- Cacao packs in more calcium than cow’s milk.
- It’s densely packed with iron, magnesium and antioxidants.
- Consuming cacao can help with issues such as depression, stress, blood pressure and heart health.
Pure cacao tastes quite bitter, which is why the different types of chocolate are often tempered with sugar, fat, or other additives to make them palatable. Cacao is often considered a superfood, and cacao powder is much less processed (and thus preserves more nutritional benefits) than cocoa powder.
Like any foods, the more you can focus on whole and unprocessed versions, the healthier it will be for you.
What are some of the health benefits of cacao, and chocolate that has higher percentage of cacao (aka dark chocolate)? Cosmopolitan shares some of these lesser-known benefits of dark chocolate:
- It contains more antioxidants than apples, black tea and red wine
- It may reduce stress
- It could reduce heart problems
- It contains libido boosters (in large quantities)
- It may boost your workout
- It can enhance insulin sensitivity (which reduces risk of diabetes)
- It can improve cognitive functioning
Before you start gobbling up those Kit-Kats and Snickers bars, which Halloween candies are healthiest for you? I’m sure most of you are not out there buying 80% dark cacao from Godiva or Lindt for the little goblins in your neighborhood.
Here are some of the healthiest Halloween candy bars, as ranked by 3 different nutritionists:
- Snickers
- Twix
- Kit Kat
- Hershey’s Gold
- Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme
- Almond Joy
- Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar
- Reese’s Sticks
- Milky Way
- 3 Musketeers
The interesting thing about lists of “healthy candy bars” is the idea that nutritionists rank “healthy” differently. Some looked at trans fats, others looked at recognizable ingredients, others looked for saturated fat and sugar. As far as calories, most of these were pretty equal.
In the end, none of those chocolates have even a trace of dark chocolate. Even fancy marketing around products such as Dove Dark, Hershey’s Special Dark, Midnight Kisses, Milky Way Midnight, Kit Kat Dark, Cadbury Old Gold or Royal Dark do not offer the health benefits of the cacao found in dark chocolate.
Instead, they either have a cacao content which is in the category of milk chocolate, are highly processed with sugar, or are processed with alkali, or “Dutched”. This means they are not true dark chocolate.
Want to get recipes to make your own healthy Halloween treats at home, including candy-like confections? Purchase the Healthy Treats e-book, with recipes for healthy drinks, desserts and candy-like treats, including chocolate delights.
Best Dark Chocolate Bars to Enjoy
Now that we know why chocolate is healthy for us (hint: it’s the cacao content!) and that many of our favorite Halloween chocolates are not dark chocolate, let’s take a look at which dark chocolates are actually healthy while still tasting good.
Before that, it should be stated that the FDA does not include “dark chocolate” in their categorization for food labeling requirements. They do list a few ingredients which are commonly used for dark chocolate, such as cocoa and cocoa nibs, so chocolate producers certainly need to abide by FDA standards for the production of those two ingredients.
Good Housekeeping released a list of the best 10 dark chocolate bars based on taste tests. Here is the ranking from least to best dark chocolate bars:
10: Dagoba 59% Dark Chocolate Bar
9: Dove Dark Chocolate Singles Bar
8: Theo Organic 70% Pure Dark Chocolate Bar
7: Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate Twilight Delight Bar
6: Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa Intense Dark Bar
5: Premium 62% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate Candy Bar
4: Chocolove Strong 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolate
3: Jacques Torres House Blend Dark Chocolate Bar
2: Valrhona Guanaja 70% Dark Chocolate Bar
1: Kohler Bold Dark 78% Cacao Chocolate
Not surprisingly, these dark chocolate bars cost a pretty penny- from $3-$8 per bar. Ouch! If nothing else encourages you to eat chocolate in moderation, the price tag will.
On a more positive note, dark chocolate tends to be smoky and perhaps too bitter for your milk-chocolate-loving kids. So, I guess that means more for you?
Other Things to Consider Before you Eat Chocolate
You may have seen dark chocolate that is labeled as “fair trade”, “organic”, “non-GMO” or other confusing claims. What do these things actually mean, and do they impact whether you should buy it?
Fair trade/Rainforest Alliance
Fair trade refers to economic standards such as minimum fair pricing, social standards such as minimum wages and safe working conditions as well as zero child labor, and environmental standards such as sustainability and eco-friendly practices. These standards work together in a holistic approach.
Here is a list of fair trade ethical chocolate you can enjoy from Fair Trade America.
Rainforest Alliance certification helps farmers produce better crops, adapt to climate change, increase their productivity, and reduce costs. The symbol for Rainforest Alliance can be found on the front of the label with a green frog. Here is a list of chocolate brands that are Rainforest Alliance certified.
Non-GMO
This term refers to the farming practices used for cacao. Please note, that while a crop may be grown as non-GMO, it can still contain ingredients that are derived from GMOs. Neither appear to impact the nutritional content of the food.
Organic
Organic food is regulated by government-accredited agents. The farmers and processors of organic foods follow strict federal standards to avoid using toxic products that can be harmful to people, animals or the environment. Chocolate that is certified organic isn’t grown with pesticides or fertilizers. It also doesn’t contain GMOs or artificial ingredients. All of the ingredients that go into a piece of certified organic chocolate must also be certified organic.
Vegan
This is not necessarily a claim you will find on a chocolate label, yet dark chocolate may still not be vegan. When I joined the Veganuary pledge this past January, it was difficult to determine which chocolates were actually free of dairy AND animal products. Surprisingly, most brands I normally turn to had both.
Luckily, PETA offers a definitive list of vegan chocolates here, and many of the brands are also identified as Fair Trade and/or Organic, such as Chocolove, Endangered Species and Alter Eco. I have found that many vegan chocolates tend to have “boosters” such as fruit or nuts. Personally, I prefer to eat chocolate that is smooth and unfettered.
Allergy-friendly
Chocolate is often tricky for those with allergies, mainly because specialty chocolates are often processed on the same equipment as milk chocolate.
Flavorpalooza identified this top 8 list of allergy-free chocolates. Consider putting a teal pumpkin outside your home this Halloween if you offer these allergy-friendly chocolates or non-food treats for your trick-or-treaters:
- Amore di Mona
- Amanda’s Own Confections
- Enjoy Life Foods (my personal favorite)
- Free2B Sun Cups (they even have a mock Reese’s PB cup!)
- No Whey Foods
- PASCHA Chocolate
- Righteously Raw (can contain coconut)
Many of these allergy-friendly brands are found on Amazon as well as their direct websites.
You don’t have to fear chocolate’s effect on your diet or health goals, and studies show there are many benefits for those who regularly eat chocolate. Choose your favorite type of chocolate, find your favorite tasting dark chocolates, and be aware of how other factors to consider before choosing your chocolate, including fair trade, allergies or personal preferences.