70% dark chocolate has up to 60% less sugar than milk or white chocolates. It has only 24 grams of sugar per 100g. Sugar-free chocolates have other sweeteners, like stevia.
How much sugar in dark chocolate?
Dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids is the healthiest type of chocolate. Cocoa solids are a superfood. They’ve a superior nutritional value. Dark chocolate with 70-85% cocoa solids is particularly high in iron, potassium, and fiber. Moreover, it contains modest amounts of copper, magnesium, chromium, manganese, and even protein!
Most noteworthy, dark chocolate with 70-85% cocoa solids contains the least amounts of sugar. It contains only 24 grams of sugar per 100g. A small 1-oz serving has only 6.8 grams of sugar!
% cacao solids | sugar (grams/100g) | sugar (grams/serving) |
45-59% | 48 | 14 |
60-69% | 37 | 10 |
70-85% | 24 | 7 |
Even 60% dark chocolate contains 54% more sugar than 70% dark chocolate! It contains about 10 grams of sugar per serving.
Furthermore, dark chocolate with 45% cocoa solids has twice the amount of sugar as compared to 70% cacao chocolate! It contains 14 grams of sugar per serving.
What’s the sugar content of milk & white chocolate?
Actually, milk and white chocolates are high in added sugar.
Milk chocolate contains 52 grams of sugar per 100g. An 1-oz serving contains about 15 grams of sugar.
White chocolate is the richest chocolate in sugar. It contains approximately 59 grams of sugar per 100g, or 17 grams per serving.
Other sweets with chocolate may contain even higher amounts of sugar! For instance, just a chocolate doughnut contains about 23 grams of sugars. This is almost the maximum recommended daily intake of extra sugar!
Which chocolate has no sugar?
Baking chocolate with 100% cocoa solids is free of sugar. But, it’s mainly used for cooking, due to its extreme bitterness.
Moreover, there are chocolates with no added sugar in which other sweeteners are used. For instance, manufacturers use stevia as a natural sweetener. Stevia is good for weight loss. It contains no calories, and it’s about 300 times sweeter than sugar!
You’ll find a wide variety of premium sugar-free chocolates on iHerb.
The best time to eat chocolate for weight loss is a couple of hours after lunch.
Is sugar bad for health?
Sugar consumption has dramatically increased in last decades. It’s everywhere. Most processed and packaged foods contain some type of sugar.
This rise in sugar consumption has led to many health problems. According to many studies, high sugar intake has been linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, inflammatory diseases, and cardiovascular disease.[2]
Furthermore, excess sugar consumption may lead to fat accumulation in the liver, decreased insulin sensitivity, and increased uric acid and cholesterol.
It’s highly recommended to consume less sugar than 5% of the total energy intake. This is extremely difficult to meet, though. People who follow the standard Western diet tend to consume much higher amounts. Avoiding sodas, sweets, and processed products would be beneficial.[3,4]
Moreover, cutting down sugar is pretty difficult because it interferes with the reward system of the brain, affecting eating behavior. In other words, sugars causes overeating. Additionally, excess sugar causes weight gain because it prevents leptin production. This hormone helps regulate energy balance by inhibiting hunger.[5]