If you’re conscious about the foods you eat, and how it impacts your overall health, then you may have questioned whether chocolate is beneficial or detrimental to your health. Chocolate is a mysterious food, and for millennia has carried with it conflicting ideas of whether it is good or bad to human health.

Although there are many aspects I can go into regarding chocolate and nutrition, here I will only focus on caffeine. It raises the questions such as:

Will chocolate keep me up at night?
Will chocolate give me a boost of energy?
Is chocolate safe for kids if it contains caffeine?

Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant. I’m sure you didn’t need me to tell you that. And as you know, this means that consuming a substantial amount of caffeine during the day may prevent you from falling asleep when needed (which can a negative impact on your health). On the other hand, stimulants such as caffeine may offer you a boost of energy during the day which may be of some benefit to you (of course, this is debatable). As well, some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others, and so the stimulant effect may be longer lasting from one person to the next. Caffeine also has a diuretic effect, causing us to urinate more frequently which will impact our hydration level.

For these reasons, and others I will not go into here, individuals may wish to limit or eliminate caffeine indefinitely or for a certain times frame if they find it is having a negative impact on their overall well being. Most people think about coffee in regards to a caffeine source, but you also hear about chocolate containing caffeine. So, if one is wanting to limit their caffeine intake should they be concerned with their chocolate consumption? Well, let’s take a look at how much caffeine is contained within chocolate versus other popular caffeinated products: tea and coffee.

A side note here. We are comparing chocolate (a food) to beverages. Keep in mind for most of it’s 5000 year history (that we know of) chocolate was consumed as a water-based drink similar to tea and coffee are today. The difference in the past 170 years or so, is now we consume solid bars of ground up cocoa beans, instead of a water-based drink where they were mixed in (and in essence diluted).

Now, let’s look at how much caffeine is contained in these three products.

Caffeine in coffee & Tea

Obviously, the definition of coffee varies. Are we talking about a small cup of espresso, a large cup of black coffee, or a rich latte with lots of cream and sugar. There are also many versions of coffee, but we will only focus on a few here. It’s easy to calculate how much caffeine is in your latte or cappuccino if you know how many espresso shots go into it, and so it would be redundant to to list caffeine content in all coffee drinks. If you know how much caffeine is a shot of espresso or in a cup of black coffee, it’s easy to understand how much caffeine is contained in all the other types of coffees.

The average serving of a cup of coffee or tea is 8z (236 ml). However, keep in mind that cups sold at most chains these days are much larger. A tall (considered a small) at Starbucks is 12 oz, (350 ml), and a grande (medium) is 16 oz (470 ml) which is twice the size of an “average serving”. If you are in Canada, a small cup of coffee from Tim Hortons is also over the “average serving size” and is about 10 oz (300 ml), with a large being double that.

Therefore, when you read studies or articles that list the the amount of caffeine in a serving, keep in mind what a serving is, and how it compares to the sizes of the coffee you usually drink. Even if you drink a small from a major coffee chain, you’re taking much more caffeine than a standard serving. See Table 1 for an easy to read chart on caffeine levels in coffee.

Table 1. The table includes caffeine levels of black coffee, decaf coffee, black tea, green tea, and decaf black tea at various sizes including the standard size (which is rarely used) and sizes the most popular at coffee chains in Canada. Keep in mind that espresso under standard 8oz is actually only one standard shot, a small means one shot such as that in a small latte or cappuccino, and medium or large is equal to two standard shots. Table created by Bean To Bar World.

A serving (8oz or 237 ml) of black brewed coffee contains about 70-140 mg of caffeine. If you were drinking a grande at Starbucks, that would be 140-280 mg. That’s quite a hit of caffeine.

A shot of espresso contains about 60 mg of caffeine. Normally a medium or large latte or cappuccino or latte will have two shots of espresso, so double, so closer to 120 mg of caffeine per cup.

On the other hand, decaf coffee contains much less caffeine, with an 8oz cup containing hardly any to 6 mg or so. Double that if you are having a medium or large, so about 12 mg.

Now keep in mind the caffeine levels vary from the type of coffee beans used, and may be altered depending how they were processed and roasted. Therefore, you may come across different averages than the ones listed here, but other sources are roughly around the same. You can find them very easily yourself online.

Table 1 also lists how much caffeine is contained in a cup of tea. Again, keep in mind the size you actually take to get a clearer idea of how much caffeine you consume. The average 8z glass of black tea contains about 47 mg of caffeine. The same size of green tea contains just over half of that, at around 28 mg. Decaf tea, like decaf coffee, contains very negligible amounts of caffeine, averaging around 2 mg for an 8 oz cup.

Also take into consideration how many cups of coffee you have a day. If you are have two medium lattes (with two shots of espresso in one latte) per day, then you are consuming somewhere around 240 mg of caffeine per day. I’m not going to get into how much caffeine it takes to get you to feel the effects. This varies quite greatly depending on your tolerance (how much you consume), age, size, and other factors. The purpose here is to get an idea of how much (or how little) caffeine chocolate actually has compared to the most consumed caffeinated products.

Chocolate & Caffeine

Now let’s take a look at chocolate. Since caffeine is contained within the cocoa bean, the higher the percentage on the bar, the more cocoa bean is in the chocolate, and the more caffeine it will have. For instance, a 100g 70% dark chocolate bar contains contains roughly 70g of cocoa bean, and 30g of sugar. The lower the percentage, the less the amount of cocoa bean is used, and the less caffeine.

Portion size

Our idea of what a normal portion of chocolate is, may be quite inflated. When you read about research that suggests moderate amounts of dark chocolate are beneficial to our health, the suggested “moderate amount” has been listed anywhere from 7, 10, 20, to 30 grams per day. So how much is that? 7 grams is about 2 of the individual rectangles in this image. 20 grams is about 4 of these (or one row). A very sensible amount to consume, especially in regards to fine chocolate. Image by Bean To Bar World.

When some people say, “chocolate is not good because it contains too much caffeine, sugar, fat…” we have to look at portion size. Eating too much fruit can cause you to take in too much sugar, regardless of the fact that it is from a good source of carbohydrate. Eating too many nuts or too much fried food in a day will increase the amount of fat you take in that day. However, there is nothing innately wrong with fruit, nuts, or even fried food in moderation. They all provide necessary macro and micro nutrients. It’s the overconsumption or the imbalance of some nutrients over another that is unhealthy for us.

Does chocolate contain fat? sugar? caffeine? Yes. Does that mean chocolate is unhealthy? certainly not.

Obviously, I focus on fine chocolate. If you have been to one of my tasting or read information on my website before, you will know that a fine chocolate is not intended to be consumed in one or two sittings. It would be like drinking an entire bottle of fine wine in one sitting. I mean, you can, but would you want to? The flavour in fine chocolate is complex, and eating it too fast will cause you to miss out on much of the depth of flavour. Really, we shouldn’t be eating any food too quickly, but this especially true for fine chocolate.

So when someone says, “I ate a burger today” or “I had a piece of cake” we have an idea in our head of the portion size. When someone says “I ate some chocolate”, does that mean they had a few bites, a whole bar, half a pound?

When I eat chocolate, I normally only have a few pieces, ranging from 10-30 grams a day. Sometimes it is in solid form, sometimes I use it to make a hearty drinking chocolate. And yes, I admit sometimes I have more than that. Keep in mind that research has shown that a moderate amount of dark chocolate can be very beneficial to our health. You can read more about this in my research blog. But what is a moderate amount? A moderate amount has been stated to be around 6-10 grams, maybe 15, and some have stated 20 or 30 grams a day. So how much chocolate is that?

Well, a typical fine chocolate bar these days is around 50-60 grams. So that would be about 1/5th of a fine chocolate bar. Not a whole lot. Again, keep in mind that fine chocolate should take a while to enjoy, like sipping a fine glass of cognac. You don’t shoot it back, you enjoy it and explore the flavours within it.

A typical commercial chocolate bar (and I’m talking about a pure chocolate bar, not a candy bar filled with mostly cookies or caramel) is usually around 100 grams. Not always, but they tend to be larger than a fine chocolate bar. Some people do put back a whole 100g chocolate bar in a sitting. That’s a lot of chocolate! It’s like eating a whole roasted chicken yourself, or a whole large watermelon. And if you eat those regularly, it’s likely not healthy for most people. Does that mean roasted chicken or watermelon is unhealthy, again I say certainly not.

So, we do need to reconsider what is a “normal” portion of chocolate to consume a day. Chocolate is a high-calorie, high-fat food. Just like nuts, avocados, olive oil, and so on. Chocolate is not empty calories either. Dark chocolate contains more antioxidants by weight than any high antioxidant fruit or vegetable. It also contains a plethora of minerals.

Caffeine content of chocolate

Now that we understand what a more reasonable amount of chocolate is, let’s look at how much caffeine is contained within some of these more reasonable amounts.

Let’s begin with the optimal amount of dark chocolate (averaging 60-70%) to enjoy in a day to optimize any health benefits. Half an ounce (15 grams) contains about 6-12 mg of caffeine. Now let’s say you have a fine dark chocolate bar that is too irresistible to stop at just 15 grams, and you ate half a bar. That would mean you consumed anywhere from 12-24 mg of caffeine. Let’s look at the Table below, that now includes a table with caffeine levels in chocolate. The colours in either table match with their rough equivalent in other table in regards to caffeine levels. So, a half an ounce (15 g) of dark chocolate, which is a healthy amount to have a day, has the same amount of caffeine as a small or medium cup of decaf black coffee. Not too much at all. If you had half of that fine dark chocolate bar, you still have less than a cup of green tea, or maybe two medium cups of decaf coffee, which is also quite a low amount of caffeine. Now, let’s say you had a full fine chocolate bar, that would be equivalent to a cup of black tea, and less than a shot of espresso. Now, if you had a full large commercial bar, you’re looking at 50-100 mg, which is now getting quite high and closer to a small Starbucks coffee, or large black tea.

Table 1. The table includes caffeine levels for coffee, tea, and chocolate. The coloured cells reflect similar caffeine levels between chocolate and the coffee or teas in the tables above. Keep in mind that espresso under standard 8oz is actually only one standard shot, a small means one shot such as that in a small latte or cappuccino, and medium or large is equal to two standard shots. Table created by Bean To Bar World.

What about milk chocolate? Milk chocolate is essentially dark chocolate with milk powder added into the recipe. Therefore, the proportion of cocoa beans is often much less than in dark chocolate. However, keep in mind that in regards to fine chocolate, you can have high percentage milk chocolates, such as a 65% (equivalent to a standard dark chocolate bar). That means the milk chocolate bar has 65% cocoa bean, and the other 35% is a combination of both sugar and milk powder. Now the table below reflects commercial milk chocolate, which is more closer to 30%, which means 30% cocoa bean and the other 70% is a mixture of milk and sugar. Not that much cocoa bean, so the levels of caffeine are quite low. Half of a fine milk chocolate bar contains the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaf coffee or tea. A whole bar of milk chocolate may contain the same amount of caffeine in a large decaf coffee.

And white chocolate? None. True white chocolate is made solely from the fat of the cocoa bean. The cocoa bean is about 50% fat, and white chocolate is made by combining the cocoa butter with sugar and milk powder for the basis of a white chocolate. The caffeine is contained within the brown portion of the cocoa beans (cocoa solids), and since white chocolate contains none of this, it also does not contain caffeine. However, it also carries very little nutrition as it also does not contain any polyphenols (antioxidants) or minerals, and is high in sugar. Something to be enjoyed more as a treat.

Theobromine

Theobromine is another alkaloid like caffeine, that is also contained within chocolate. In fact, this alkaloid carries the same name as the genus of cacao, Theobroma. Is theobromine a stimulant? Yes, but a very weak stimulant for humans. However, for many animals it is quite the stimulant. The smaller the animal, the bigger the impact on their body. This is why you are told not to feed your pet dog, cat, or bird chocolate. The theobromine may cause their heart rate to race to the point of cardiac arrest. However, If the chocolate they ate is relatively small compared to the dog or cats weight, you don’t necessarily have to panic. A medium to large dog who snuck a bite of chocolate may have no serious consequences, or any negative consequence whatsoever. However, don’t make this a regular occurrence. This also includes cocoa beans or cocoa nibs (which are essentially just the kernel of the cocoa bean).

Conclusion

Although chocolate does contain caffeine, it is a such a small amount that for most people, you would need to eat a few fine chocolate bars, or a couple 100g commercial dark chocolate bars to feel much of an impact. And if your tolerance for caffeine is quite high (that is, you drink a few cups of coffee a day) then you may not feel anything at all.

As well, if you eat a sensible amount of chocolate of 30 grams or less a day, the amount of caffeine is quite negligible, and too low to really have on impact on most people.

If you are very sensitive to caffeine, I do know people who claim to feel the impacts of the caffeine of chocolate. But again, they would likely have to at least eat a whole bar. As well, this is more anecdotal evidence. Also keep in mind that the "high” most people get from eating chocolate could be the sugar. Many people prefer a sweeter dark chocolate or milk chocolate (which contains a fair amount of sugar if a standard commercial milk chocolate), which do contain high amounts of refined sugar which is also a stimulant. This is normally the stimulant people feel when eating chocolate, since most people eat lower percentage milk or dark chocolate. As well, people who refer to chocolate being a stimulant may also be referring to chocolate cake, pudding, ganache, ice cream, and other desserts which contain far more sugar than chocolate, and likely very negligible amounts of caffeine.

So is chocolate safe for kids if it contains caffeine? You have to decide, but a few pieces (15 g) of dark chocolate contain about the same amount as a cup of green tea or decaf coffee (2-6 mg) vs the 80-100 mg found in a small cup of black coffee. Milk chocolate contains even less. Will chocolate keep you up at night or give you a boost of energy? Probably not, unless you are very sensitive to caffeine, and have a couple full bars of dark chocolate.

As mentioned, chocolate is a high energy, high fat food, that also is packed with high amounts of antioxidants and a range of essential minerals. If consumed in moderation, it can be a very healthful food (in regards to dark chocolate) and a sensible food as well.

FAQs & Myths Home

MYTH: Chocolate is full of caffeine!