The idea that one chocolate bar can be ‘healthier’ than another is a ‘misconception’ – no matter how dark the bar, claims a top nutritionist.
In recent years, newfangled products have appeared on the snack market with labels like ‘raw’, ‘better for you’ and ‘no added sugar’.
There are also varieties that cost up to $20 per pack, such as cocoa (cold, pressed raw cacao beans) and ‘raw’ chocolate – which usually means little sugar has been added.
Some dark chocolate bars claim to be ‘better for you’ because they contain more flavonols – which studies show prevent heart problems.
But Dr. Marion Nestle, a professor emeritus at New York University and a nutritionist, told DailyMail.com that there is so little of this nutrient in the bars that a person would have to eat “excessive” amounts to get enough.
Ironically, this would put them at risk of weight gain, diabetes and heart disease – because of the unavoidable excess calories.
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Some nutritionists suggest that you would have to eat as many as seven chocolate bars a day to get enough flavonols to experience any benefit – or 750 calories of dark chocolate, about half the daily recommended amount.
Dr. Nestle told DailyMail.com: ‘It’s a misconception to describe chocolate as healthy, but it’s a great marketing ploy.
‘Chocolate is a sweet and should be consumed as such, in moderation of course.
‘As a plant extract, cocoa contains antioxidants that can promote health.
‘But these are in such small quantities that you would have to eat chocolate in moderation to get any benefit from them.
She added, “And it’s important to watch those calories!”
Suggestions that chocolate might be healthy have focused on flavonols – which have even been linked to improvements in brain function.
But when cocoa – raw beans from cacao plants – is heated and crushed to make cocoa powder, it breaks down many of the flavonols.
To make processed chocolate, the powder is then mixed with sugars, cocoa butter and vegetable oils – which contain more calories, sugar and fat.
Companies must mix the powder with other substances because unprocessed cocoa beans have a very bitter taste.
With milk chocolate bars, the majority of the bar consists of sugars and fats.
But many dark chocolate bars also contain added sugar and fat to improve the taste.
For example, Hu, a brand that claims to make chocolate “better for you,” makes 60-gram bars that contain about 190 calories and 8 grams of saturated fat per half.
A Hershey’s bar, which weighs 43 grams, contains 210 calories and the same amount of saturated fat — the type that can damage blood vessels.
And a Snickers bar, which weighs 52 grams, contains half the saturated fat and about 250 calories – so only slightly more per gram.
Other products, like Skin Glow’s “vitamin-infused” chocolate, contain as much sugar as two packets of Sour Patch Kid candies.
Researchers found that foods with the highest levels of toxic metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium included baby food, root vegetables such as beets, rice and dark chocolate.
Nutritionists are careful not to demonize chocolate completely; they say it can still be part of a healthy, balanced diet.
Dr. Carolyn Williams, an Alabama nutritionist, told DailyMail.com: ‘If a little chocolate gives you satisfaction and pleasure from eating, then that can be part of a healthy diet.
‘So eating tons of chocolate every day will not improve your health and I would never recommend it.
“But if you like it, a little bit of food can help.”
There are no official guidelines on how much chocolate someone should eat every day.
But the American Heart Association suggests consuming no more than 100 calories of chocolate per day.
According to polls, about 268 million Americans are self-proclaimed chocolate lovers, which is about every two in three people in the country.