Chocolate

Food · Other · Food, Typed Supps

Neither of these is the chocolate the health headlines are about.

Stage by stage

Intake (Melts near body temperature): Cocoa butter melts sharply just below body heat; compound chocolate's vegetable fat melts more broadly.
Digestion (Little to slow it): With virtually no fibre and no intact structure, sugar and fat digestion begins immediately.
Absorption (Fast glucose, slower fat): Sucrose absorbs quickly, raising blood glucose; fat follows more slowly, carried by bile.
Circulation (Saturated fat and energy): Unused energy is stored; the saturated fat load feeds into blood lipids with regular intake.

Time to effect

Under an hour: Blood glucose rises within roughly 30 to 60 minutes of eating.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. May contain: Gluten, Eggs, Milk, Peanuts, Soya, Tree nuts. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP, Gluten-free.

Satiety

61 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — low. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.

Environmental footprint

46.7 kg CO2e and 3402 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Dark chocolate" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £4 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Added sugar
Saturated fat
Calcium

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 543
Protein: 7.1g
Carbohydrate: 54.6g
of which sugars: 54.6g
Fat: 34.5g
of which saturated: 21.4g
Fibre: 0.2g
Sodium: 78mg

Food vs. supplement

Cocoa extract trials use flavanol doses that confectionery does not reach. Nothing in this family is a route to them.

Kitchen tip

Melt white chocolate gently and low — its milk solids and high sugar make it seize and scorch more readily than dark. Compound chocolate is the forgiving one: it sets hard without tempering.

Common myth

“Chocolate has antioxidants, so any chocolate is doing something for you.” In reality: The compounds studied are cocoa flavanols, which sit in the cocoa solids. White chocolate contains no cocoa solids at all, and compound cooking chocolate has had the cocoa butter swapped for vegetable fat. Both are sugar and fat products, and honest ones.