If you’re a chocolate lover, you’re in good company. Everyone enjoys the rich creamy taste of a square of chocolate. All chocolate isn’t equally healthy though. Compared to other chocolates, dark chocolate is bitter in flavor and contains more fat and fewer calories. Milk chocolate blends the flavors of cocoa butter with the sweet taste of sugar, making it more calorie-rich and harder on your blood glucose level. White chocolate contains no cocoa solids, but more fat and sugar.
For health, it’s dark chocolate all the way! Dark chocolate contains higher levels of compounds called catechins, antioxidants that help counter oxidative damage and combat inflammation. Plus, dark chocolate is lower in sugar than milk chocolate. So, when you yearn for a decadent treat with a sugar content that’s not off the charts, dark chocolate is your best friend. And you’ll get a dose of antioxidants too. Milk chocolate is lower in catechins, while white chocolate contains none of these free-radical fighting substances.
Despite its tantalizing taste, chocolate has a reputation for being a waistline expander due to its high-calorie content, but that’s not the full story. When you compare a square of dark chocolate to a cookie or doughnut, dark chocolate is a healthier way to cure a craving. But there’s also evidence that nibbling on dark chocolate helps with weight control, despite not being a low-calorie food. Let’s look at some reasons dark chocolate is beneficial for your waistline and metabolic health.
Dark Chocolate Curbs Cravings
Dark chocolate is a deeply satisfying treat. Some studies show that eating a square of dark chocolate helps curb sugar cravings and reduce appetite. One study of 16 people found that subjects felt fuller after eating dark chocolate, but not milk chocolate. Researchers from Denmark also found that young women who ate 30 grams of 85% cacao dark chocolate felt less hungry and had lower levels of the appetite hormone ghrelin in their bloodstream. As a powerful appetite hormone, lower ghrelin works in your favor if you’re trying to lose weight.
Other small studies show that people who nibble on dark chocolate consume fewer calories at a subsequent meal. You won’t get these benefits from eating milk chocolate or white chocolate. Plus, white chocolate has none of the antioxidants that make dark chocolate a heart-healthy, anti-inflammatory treat.
Even the Smell of Dark Chocolate Reduces Appetite and Cravings
It’s not hard to understand how eating dark chocolate satisfies, but a study found that even the aroma of dark chocolate curbs appetite and cravings. In one study, young women who ate dark chocolate felt more satisfied and less hungry. While it’s not earth-shattering news that eating dark chocolate calms cravings, there is one surprise. Those who only copped a whiff of its sweet aroma felt satisfied too. Furthermore, both eating and smelling dark chocolate decreased levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite. Somehow smelling dark chocolate tricks the brain into thinking you’ve eaten it, and it calms your appetite.
Dark Chocolate May Improve Insulin Sensitivity
Another way dark chocolate may help weight control is by improving insulin sensitivity. When your cells are more sensitive to the hormone insulin, you have lower insulin circulating in your bloodstream. Because insulin promotes fat storage and decreases fat burning, reducing insulin promotes weight loss and blood sugar control.
Some research shows that nibbling on dark chocolate improves insulin sensitivity. One study found that eating dark but not white chocolate improved insulin sensitivity and reduced blood pressure. These benefits are favorable for heart health too. So, dark chocolate is better for your metabolic health than eating an ultra-processed or sugary snack, like a doughnut, muffin, or brownie.
Dark Chocolate Relieves Stress
Another way dark chocolate may help with weight control is by reducing stress. Have you noticed how stress seems to vanish when you bite into a piece of dark chocolate? Stress makes it harder to lose weight because it elevates the stress hormone cortisol. When there’s more cortisol circulating in your bloodstream, you also crave more energy-rich foods high in fat and sugar. So, anything that brings stress down a notch can help you better control your weight.
The stress relief benefits of dark chocolate go beyond the bliss of eating a dark chocolate bar. One study found that subjects who consumed dark chocolate had a substantial boost in gamma waves in one portion of the brain. These are waves associated with relaxation and memory. Gamma waves help you counter the stress you’re exposed to daily.
Another study found that people who were stressed out and munched on dark chocolate every day for 2 weeks had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their urine and bloodstream at the end of the study relative to the beginning. Stress relief – another benefit of eating dark chocolate.
The Bottom Line
Dark chocolate is an antioxidant-rich food that may make it easier to control your weight. Dark chocolate bars with a cacao percentage of 70% or higher and less than 6 grams of sugar are the healthiest. Eat it occasionally and take a whiff of it often.
Can it help you lose weight? Eating dark chocolate alone is unlikely to have a major impact on your body weight, since the totality of your diet matters most. But if you enjoy it in moderation and as a substitute for other sugary treats, it may give you a weight loss advantage. Enjoy!
References:
- Regulatory Peptides. 2010. “Appetite Suppression Through Smelling of Dark Chocolate Correlates with Changes in Ghrelin in Young Women”
- Sørensen LB, Astrup A. Eating dark and milk chocolate: a randomized crossover study of effects on appetite and energy intake. Nutr Diabetes. 2011;1(12): e21. Published 2011 Dec 5. doi:10.1038/nutd.2011.17
- Physiol Behav. 2006 Apr 15;87(4):800-4. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.01.029. Epub 2006 Mar 20.
- Front Immunol. 2017; 8: 677.Published online 2017 Jun 9.
- “New studies show dark chocolate … – Loma Linda University.” news.llu.edu/for-journalists/press-releases/new-studies-show-dark-chocolate-consumption-reduces-stress-and-inflammation-while-improving-memory-immunity-and-mood.
- “Chocolate Reduces Stress, Study Finds | Live Science.” 11 Nov. 2009, livescience.com/7974-chocolate-reduces-stress-study-finds.html
- PLoS One. 2020 Apr 24;15(4): e0232099. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232099. eCollection 2020.
- Antioxid Redox Signal. 2011 Nov 15; 15(10): 2779-2811.
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- Physiol Behav. 2006 Apr 15;87(4):800-4. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.01.029. Epub 2006 Mar 20.
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