10 Chocolate Myths

Chocolate is one of the more delicious foods you will run across. As with anything good, there are always people out there who will have negative things to say. With this in mind, let's take a look at the top 10 chocolate myths.

Chocolate Myths
Myth 1 - Our first myth is eating chocolate will make you fat. This is far from true. Let's consider the classic Hershey's chocolate bar. One bar contains about 210 calories. It takes more than 2,000 calories for a woman and 2,500 calories a day for a man to gain weight. Eating one candy bar is not going to make you fat. Now, if you eat a lot of chocolate every day, you are probably going to run into problems. Of course, if you eat a ton of fruit each day, you will as well. Chocolate in moderation will not cause you to gain weight.

Myth 2 - Eating chocolate will cause you to suffer breakouts on your face. Acne is the bane of all of us, but study after study shows eating chocolate simply does not correlate to acne breakouts. In fact, clinical studies reported in major medical journals have even found the cocoa in chocolate is good for the skin because it helps promote blood circulation.

Myth 3 - People who eat chocolate get cavities. This myth is true if you don't floss and brush your teeth. However, it is true for practically any food or drink consumed if you don't take care of your dental hygiene. Cavities occur when bacteria in your mouth convert sugars and produces acid as a byproduct. It doesn't matter if the sugar comes from fruit, a soda or chocolate. If you floss and brush your teeth as instructed by your dentist, eating chocolate is no more likely to cause calories than eating an apple.

Myth 4 - Chocolate is bad for you because it has high sodium levels. Sodium, better known as salt, is necessary for the body to function, but too much of it can cause high blood pressure and other health issues. The recommended maximum amount of sodium you should consume in a day is just over 3,000mg. A classic chocolate bar contains between 35 and 40mgs of sodium. You can do the math on this myth.

Myth 5 - Chocolate is bad for you because it contains high amounts of caffeine. I find this myth particularly interesting because it is often communicated to me by someone holding an energy drink loaded with caffeine! In truth, a chocolate bar does contain caffeine - roughly a quarter coffee cup worth. This is hardly a health issue.

Myth 6 - Many of use are concerned about our cholesterol levels these days. Given this, claims that chocolate is high in cholesterol would seem to be troubling. The problem is this is a complete myth. A bar of chocolate contains roughly 10 to 12mgs of cholesterol. In contrast, an egg has about 260mgs of cholesterol.

Myth 7 - An odd, but popular, myth is chocolate can cause headaches. Multiple studies have been done on this subject. The results have indicated this simply isn't the case although it can be with certain other dairy products.

Myth 8 - Chocolate is an empty calorie food is yet another incorrect myth. The argument in this case is chocolate is simply sugar and cocoa butter, so it provides you with nothing nutritious. In truth, researchers have discovered chocolate has the same flavanols as found in red wine. Flavanols help maintain heart heath.

Myth 9 - Our next myth is eating chocolate will raise your blood pressure. If anything, the opposite is true. Studies have found cocoa actually lowers blood pressure. This is particularly true for chocolate products containing more than 50 percent of cocoa.

Myth 10 - Kids eating chocolate will become obese adults. This myth is truly one of those theories coming to us out of left field. There is simply no evidence for this nor is there any evidence for this with any foods. The key, as always, is moderation.

Chocolate is an amazing food nobody should go without. Don't believe the negative myths you hear about chocolate or, frankly, any food. Once you look at the facts, you'll find many of the wild claims simply are not true.