Dark Vs White Chocolate

Chocolate is one of the most popular foods in the world. Though initially it was used as a bitter drink by the Aztecs, it is more of the sweeter variety that we have come to absolutely love! There are dark , milky or the white chocolate varieties available in the market which we all know of. Though I prefer the dark one myself (obviously due to the slight bitter taste) I’d like to outline the pros and cons of the other varieties also even though the consumption is very much dependant upon the consumer’s taste and preference, and not necessarily upon the health benefits!

Chocolate in general is believed to have a positive affect via its link to serotonin in human brain. Serotonin helps regulate mood, appetite, sleep and muscles which explains why we feel so good after having some!

It also contains alkaloids (a nitrogen based chemical compound which is normally found in stimulants such as coffee, nicotine and local anesthetics) along with antioxidants which fight off free radicals in the body.

Dark Chocolate is usually pure, unadulterated chocolate which contains little sugar and is bitter in taste depending on the percentage of cocoa solids used. This variety contains both the cocoa solids (which is the non fat part of chocolate) and cocoa butter.

Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk and lesser amounts of the cocoa solids.

White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but NO cocoa solids. This gives it a very ‘milky’ taste and color rather than a chocolaty one since there are no cocoa solids present in the mixture.

Dark Vs White

From the health perspective, darker variety contains more antioxidants and thus provides more benefits than white since dark contains more of cocoa solids and butter in varying proportions. Also keep in mind that the Whiter the chocolate, the higher the sugar content!