QuestionHello! I'm on a diet where I am supposed to limit my caffeine. It's okay for me to have two cups of caffeine coffee per day. I also like to eat a small chocolate bar with my lunch at work, or maybe 3 of those Hershey chocolate kisses. I have heard that chocolate has caffeine inside. How significant an amount is it? Would a small chocolate bar be like a half cup of coffee? THANKS.
AnswerHi Ken,
Sweets ruin any diet, caffein or not. On the other hand, caffein is a recognized fat burner. For example, in many clinical trials green tea was shown to accelerate weight loss. A whole different story is the caffein-insulin relationship, but without knowing your reason for dieting (insulin resistance?) and the diet specifics, I cant tell how much caffein is OK for you.
But let me answer the simple part of your question: caffein content in chocolate varies broadly depending on type and brand. Keep it in your mind that in chocolate, another stimulant theobromine matters more.
Dark chocolates (percents):
1.22 theobromine
0.21 caffeine
Commercial cocoas contained, on the average,
1.89 theobromine
0.21 caffeine.
Sweet chocolate:
0.46 theobromine
0.07 caffeine
Milk chocolate:
0.15 theobromine
0.02 caffeine
Hot chocolate averaged 65 mg of theobromine and 4 mg of caffeine per 5 ounce serving.
Three 8 oz. cups of coffee (about 250 milligrams of caffeine) per day is considered an average or moderate amount of caffeine.
Reading
Green Tea for weight loss
http://atkinszone.com/fat_loss/2008/09/green-tea-and-cream-fat-fast.html
Caffein for fat burning
http://atkinszone.com/fat_loss/2008/10/caffeine-and-aspirin-for-fat-burning.html
Tanya Zilberter
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