Does chocolate make you gain weight?

[Article updated on 19/09/2023]

Chocolate is both a delicious food and a source of energy and nutrients. Many claim that it makes you gain weight because of its sweet taste and rather fatty texture. Is this inevitable? Is this gluttony systematically a source of weight gain?

To find out if chocolate really makes you gain weight, find out in this article its components and calorific values.

Chocolate

Chocolate making

Chocolate is made from cocoa beans from mainly from Central America. It is a food which is essentially composed of sugar, vegetable oil (palm oil, shea or mango kernels) and cocoa butter.

Its design is similar to coffee: the beans are roasted to intensify their aroma. You must start by cleaning the seeds the help of a roaster. This operation generally takes about a forty minutes at a temperature of 140°C. It reduces about 2 to 7% the humidity of the beans.

The beans are, for their part, cooked with their shells before being shelled. They are then crushed by a millstone.

Chocolate in all its forms

The nature and color of the chocolate vary depending on the quantity of cocoa which it contains:

• Dark chocolate: a large quantity of cocoa and a little sugar;
• Milk chocolate, brown in color: a a little cocoa, sugar and condensed or powdered milk;
• White chocolate: cocoa butter, sugar, milk and flavorings.

Consumption

Chocolate is consumed either directly or by using it as a as an ingredient in cooking. It then comes in several forms: powder, wafer, paste…

In Mexico it was initially consumed as a drink spicy. It was only after the industrial revolution that other presentations began to exist.

Over time, chocolatiers embellish this sweet with various toppings: peanut, almond, coconut, puffed rice, nuts cashew… This only enhances the flavor of the chocolate whose rating is undeniable among young and old alike.

The composition of chocolate

Chocolate is rich in nutrients and vitamins:

• Carbohydrate essential to ensure production energy and/or fight against fatigue;
• Magnesium to maintain nerve stability and muscles;
• Calcium which promotes the proper development of bones;
• Phosphorus which regulates chemical reactions present inside cells;
• Vitamins A, B1, B2, C, D and E;
• Trace elements such as iron, nickel, zinc, sodium, fluorine and iodine;
• Phenylethylamine which acts as a antidepressant;
• Theobromine which participates in the stimulation of nervous impulses to provide a feeling of well-being;
• Caffeine which regulates sleep;
• Anandamide which causes the same reactions as marijuana;
• Flavonoids that perform a similar function to the antioxidant and remedies hemorrhoids and cellular fragilities;
• Tryptophan which acts as a precursor of sleep, treats depression and stress and protects the heart;
• Theophylline which slightly stimulates the cells and maintains the good condition of the respiratory muscles.

What are its values calorific?

THE values energy of chocolate depend on its type and composition. here are the figures for 100 grams:

• Black: approximately 2320 kJ or 555 kcal;
• Milk: around 2300 kJ or 550 kcal;
• White: approximately 2380 kJ or 570 kcal.

White chocolate has the highest calorie content because it contains a greater mass of lipids. It is therefore the one which influences the more about weight gain.

Note that the addition of supplements such as hazelnuts, rice puffed, peanuts, etc. do not modify these values.

Does chocolate make you gain weight? In which terms ?

Chocolate is often considered a guilty pleasure. What the What appreciators fear above all is its addictive side. Once we taste it, we can no longer do without it. And we end up consuming some indecent quantities. But does chocolate really make you gain weight? If yes, why ?

Gourmet pleasure

Chocolate would promote weight gain because of its virtues therapeutics. Indeed, the phenylethylamine it contains would encourage consumers to eat more and more, intoxicated by the sensation of well-being procured. Especially since it is a delicious food.

The quantity consumed

Exceeding 30 g (around 3 squares of chocolate) per day would promote weight gain. However, this “small” quantity is almost never satisfactory. Which can lead to frustration or even overflow eating.

The type of chocolate

Dark chocolate does not increase body fat, unlike white chocolate, due to the latter’s higher intake of carbohydrates and lipids.

Concretely, the less cocoa a bar contains, the more it gain kilos. Nutritionists also advise against chocolate white as part of a slimming diet.

A addictive food

Chocolate can be truly addictive, like a drug, but in a gentler way. In the most severe cases, a person feels the urge to eat it several times during the day. Anandamide is believed to be the cause of this effect.

THE lack of physical activity

This situation affects the increase in weight. Eat twice (at minimum) chocolate without doing sport risks raising the BMI (Mass Index Corporal).

The health benefits of chocolate

Beyond the risks it presents for weight gain, chocolate is on the list of foods recommended as part of a balanced diet in view of its nutritional contributions. It contains beneficial molecules like catechins, which regulate blood pressure problems, inflammation and insulin sensitivity.

Conclusion

So, does chocolate make you fat? Although it sometimes promotes weight gain, reasonable consumption does not do any harm. Especially since it is a food rich in nutrients and other beneficial substances. It’s just a matter of taking a reasonable quantity (3 squares per day maximum) and favoring the least energetic presentations as much as possible, that is to say dark chocolate. And we can never repeat it enough, it is excess that is harmful.