Chocolate is one of the most popular sweets in the world, consumed in many forms like ice cream, cake, doughnuts, candy bars, pies and bizarrely, as chocolate-covered sun-dried tomatoes and green tea chocolate.
There is, however, a big debate as to the health benefits of chocolate. Most people’s money is on the argument that chocolate is healthy when eaten moderately but some insist that there are some chocolates that are just not as healthy as others.
The debate now is dark chocolate vs milk chocolate vs white chocolate. Let us take a look at the nutritional content of each one.
Dark Chocolate
Made from a combination of sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa solids and a little bit of milk, dark chocolate is slightly bitter and slightly sweet at the same time. Dark chocolate has few carbohydrates, has four times the fiber of milk chocolate and has high iron content. It has also been known for providing cardiovascular benefits for the inflammation and reduces the risk of contracting diabetes.
Milk Chocolate
Unlike dark chocolate, milk chocolate has more dairy fat and milk and thus tends to be creamier and lighter. Milk chocolate has been proven to be good for your brain and your libido. While there has been a study (made over 12 years involving 21,000 people) that milk chocolate can be as healthy as dark chocolate, which does not erase the fact that milk chocolate has more saturated fat, sugar and cholesterol than its less sweet cousin.
White Chocolate
White chocolate is a big fat lie as it does not have chocolate at all. Instead, it is composed of cocoa butter, milk fat, milk solids and sugar. Another main ingredient is vanilla which deepens the flavor of the white chocolate. A fatty substance called lecithin is also added to act as an emulsifier. To curb the excessive use of sugar content and utilization of cheaper fats like vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter in the production of white chocolate, the United States’ Food and Drug Administration has ruled that for a product to be considered white chocolate, sugar or other sweeteners should not contain more than 55 percent sugar. The ruling also requires 3.5 percent milk fat, 20 percent cocoa butter and 14 percent milk solids.
So who is the winner? Dark chocolate by a mile as it is bit more purer in form than the other ones.