Chocolate & Health - Nutritional Breakdown

Theobroma Cocoa Tree - This is the main source of raw chocolate. The processed chocolate is produced from the seeds of Theobroma Cocoa Tree with other substances e.g. liquor, lecithin, butter etc. These seeds have intense bitter taste & they are processed to improve the flavor. chocolate is a popular ingredient in confectionery products. Chocolate is an American invention.

Types

1. Pure Chocolate (which has a bitter taste & mostly known as cooking or baking chocolate)
2. Compound Chocolate (less expensive, non-chocolate product made from cocoa, vegetable fat & sweeteners)
3. White Chocolate
4. Dark Chocolate
5. Milk Chocolate
6. Semisweet & bittersweet chocolate
7. Couverture (a very high quality chocolate which contains extra amount of cocoa butter)

Chocolate is made of some necessary & some optional ingredients;

Necessary Ingredients

• Cocoa bean - the primary ingredient which characterizes chocolate 
• Chocolate liquor or mass - ground or melted state of the nib of the cacao bean 
• Cocoa butter - the fat component 
• Cocoa solids, the nonfat part of the cacao bean which is ground into cocoa powder

Optional Ingredients

• Lecithin
• Vanilla
• Sugar
• Milk

  

Dark - Cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla. Cocoa min. 53.5%.

White - Sugar, full cream milk powder, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla. Cocoa min. 27%.

Milk - Sugar, cocoa butter, full cream milk powder, cocoa liquor, lecithin, vanilla. Cocoa min. 31.5%. 

Acne - There is no established link between developing acne and eating chocolate. 
Addiction - As a food substance, chocolate has no addictive ingredients. 
Cavities - Studies have not placed chocolate high on the list of cavity-causing products. The cocoa butter in chocolate may provide protection against tooth decay. 
Cholesterol - Studies show that cocoa butter has a neutral effect on blood cholesterol levels because of the high level of stearic acid. 
Stimulants - Chocolate contains minuscule amounts of caffeine. 8 oz. of dark chocolate or 16 oz. of milk chocolate is comparable to a cup of coffee.

Studies have showed that dark chocolate 1.72 ounces bar, has 240 calories and 13 grams of fat, most of it saturated fat. So we can eat 4-5 g dark chocolate a day as it has more antioxidants per gram But only a bit a day, since chocolate is notoriously rich in unhealthy fat.