Chocolate Analysis: History and Health Benefits

By Nina and Helen

A Brief History

• 90 percent of chocolate's long history, it was strictly a beverage, and sugar didn't have anything to do with it.

• Etymologists trace the origin of the word "chocolate" to the Aztec word "xocoatl," which referred to a bitter drink brewed from cacao beans.

• Many modern historians have estimated that chocolate has been around for about 2000 years, but recent research suggests that it may be even older.

• Sweetened chocolate didn't appear until Europeans discovered the Americas and sampled the native cuisine.

• By the 17th century, chocolate was a fashionable drink throughout Europe, believed to have nutritious, medicinal and even aphrodisiac properties. 1828, a Dutch chemist found a way to make powdered chocolate by removing about half the natural fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquor, pulverizing what remained and treating the mixture with alkaline salts to cut the bitter taste. His product became known as "Dutch cocoa," and it soon led to the creation of solid chocolate.

• The first modern chocolate bar is credited to Joseph Fry, who in 1847 discovered that he could make a moldable chocolate paste by adding melted cacao butter back into Dutch cocoa.

• By 1868, a little company called Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolate candies in England.

• In the 20th century, the word "chocolate" expanded to include a range of affordable treats with more sugar and additives than actual cacao in them, often made from the hardiest but least flavorful of the bean varieties (forastero).

Places Known for Chocolate:

• Mexico• Spain• France• Belgium• Switzerland• England• Ivory Coast• Holland• U.S.A. Countries known for growing cacao

Well Known Examples:

General Ingredients in ChocolateCacao    -Chocolate Liquor    -Cocoa Butter    -Cocoa or Cocoa powderSugarMilkEmulsifier 

Common Vitamins in Chocolate:(3% and over)White Chocolate:Vitamin E  Vitamin K ThiaminRiboflavinNiacinVitamin B6FolateVitamin B12Pantothenic Acid

            Milk Chocolate:            Vitamin A            Vitamin E            Vitamin K            Thiamin            Riboflavin            Niacin            Vitamin B6            Folate            Vitamin B12            Pantothenic Acid            

Dark Chocolate:Vitamin K  Riboflavin  Niacin  Vitamin B12 Pantothenic Acid  

Common Minerals in Chocolate:(3% and over)White Chocolate:CalciumMagnesiumPhosphorusPotassiumSodiumZincCopperSelenium

                Dark Chocolate:                Calcium                Iron                Magnesium                Phosphorus                Potassium                Zinc                Copper                Manganese                Selenium

          Milk Chocolate:          Calcium          Iron          Magnesium          Phosphorus          Potassium          Sodium          Zinc          Copper          Manganese          Selenium      

Fat ContentWhite Chocolate:Total Fat: 9g per ounceSaturated: 5.4g per ounceMonounsaturated: 2.5g per ouncePolyunsaturated: .3g per ounce

Dark Chocolate:Total Fat: 12g per ounceSaturated: 6.9g per ounceMonounsaturated: 3.6g per ouncePolyunsaturated: 0.4g per ounce

Milk Chocolate:Total Fat: 8.3g per ounceSaturated: 5.2 per ounceMonounsaturated: 2g per ouncePolyunsaturated: 0.4 per ounce

Antioxidents - and other Health Benefits These health benefits are only found in dark chocolate- but it is always important to eat any chocolate in moderation and reduce other fat and sugar intakes when you eat it. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.  "Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate." • Lower Blood Pressure: Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark

chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure. 

• Lower Cholesterol: Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10%.

    

White ChocolateHershey Cookies 'n' Cream(based on one serving)    Serving Size: 1.6 ozCalories: 220          Calories from Fat: 100Total Fat: 12g   Saturated Fat: 7gCholesterol:  5mgSodium: 100mgTotal Carbohydrate: 26g    Sugars: 19g    Starch: 7g    Fiber: 0gProtein: 3gIngredients: White Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Nonfat Milk, Lactose, Reduced Minerals Whey, Milk Fat, Soy Lecithin and PGPR, Emulsifiers, Vanillin, Artificial Flavor, and Tocopherols, To Preserve Freshness), Enriched Flour(Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thaiamin Monoitrate, Riboflavin, and Folic Acid), Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, (Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil), Contains 2% or less of: Cocoa Processed with Alkai, Whey(milk) Chocolate, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sodium Bicarbonate, Salt, Soy Lecithin, and Natural and Artificial Flavor.

Lindt White Chocolate(based on one serving)    Serving Size: 1.47 ozCalories: 230        Calories from Fat: 130Total Fat: 15g  Saturated Fat: 9gCholesterol:  10mgSodium: 45mgTotal Carbohydrate: 22g    Sugars: 23g    Starch: 0g    Fiber: 1gProtein: 3gIngredients: Sugar, Cocoa butter, Milk, Skim Milk, Soya Lecithin (emulsifier), Artificial Flavor

Milk ChocolateHersheys Milk Chocolate(based on one serving)    Serving Size: 1.47 ozCalories: 200        Calories from Fat: 100Total Fat: 12g  Saturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 30mgTotal Carbohydrate: 23g    Sugars: 22g    Starch:  0g    Fiber: 1gProtein: 3gIngredients: Milk Chocolate (Sugar; Milk; Chocolate; Cocoa Butter; Lactose; Milk Fat; Soy Lecithin; PGPR, Emulsifier; Vanillin, Artificial Flavor).

Lindt Milk Chocolate(based on one serving)    Serving Size: 1.3 ozCalories: 220        Calories from Fat: 120Total Fat: 13g  Saturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 50mgTotal Carbohydrate: 24g    Sugars: 22g    Starch: 2g    Fiber: 0gProtein: 4gIngredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, milk, chocolate, skim milk, soya lecithin (emulsifier), barley malt powder, artificial flavoring.

                    Dark ChocolateHershey's Special Dark Chocolate:(based on one serving)    Serving size- 38g/5 blocksCalories: 180    Calories from Fat: 100 Total Fat: 12g Saturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: < 5mgSodium: 12mgTotal Carbohydrates: 23g    - Sugars 19g    - Starch 1g    - Fiber 3gProtein: 2gIngredients: sugar; chocolate; cocoa butter; cocoa processed with alkali; milk fat; lactose; soy lecithin; pgpr; emulsifier; vanillin; artificial flavor; milk.

Lindt 90% dark chocolate:(based on one serving)    Serving size- 40g/4squaresCalories: 180    Calories from Fat: 100 Total Fat: 22g Saturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 0Sodium: 10mgTotal Carbohydrates: 12g    - Sugars 3g    - Starch 4g    - Fiber 5gProtein: 4gIngredients: chocolate; cocoa processed with alkali; cocoa butter; sugar; bourbon vanilla beans

What's your favorite?

Which of the 6 chocolates did you like the most?

• Milko Hershey's?o Lindt?

• Darko Hershey's?o Lindt?

• Whiteo Hershey's?o Lindt?

 

Things to Consider

- Eating a small portion of dark chocolate everyday can have large health benefits, but that doesn't mean that you should binge on huge amounts chocolate everyday.

-Remember that the heath benefits of chocolate are mainly found in dark chocolate, but there are vitamins and minerals in all varieties. -Chocolate is a food high in fats and sugars, and should always be eaten in moderation.

Analysis -When you compare servings of chocolate, it is clear that Hershey's has less calories and a larger serving size for their chocolate. 

-Hershey's chocolate also usually has more ingredients than Lindt which tends to have closer to the minimum of ingredients required for that type of chocolate. 

-Lindt chocolate also tends to have much more fat in it than Hershey's.   -Another interesting thing to consider that the amount of carbohydrates in  the Hershey's dark chocolate is almost twice as much as in the Lindt chocolate. 

-Lindt chocolate also has either equal or more protein than Hershey's chocolate

-Interestingly enough Hershey's chocolate has lactose added to it along with milk and milk fat; where Lindt only uses milk or in the case of dark chocolate it doesn't use any milk. Because Hershey's puts milk in the dark chocolate, the health benefits become diminished.