Dark chocolate is the most healthy and nutritious thing that you can add to your diet. There are a variety of brands for healthy chocolate bars that you can shop from the market. Not all brands produce pure organic dark chocolates; some of the brands are better than others, depending on the ingredients and processing methods.
Which one must you choose? Worry not! You can follow the guide mentioned below to learn everything you would need to know before selecting the best dark chocolate bars.
What Is A Dark Chocolate?
Dark chocolate is produced with the addition of fat and sugar to cocoa. It is quite different from milk chocolate, as it only contains nothing but milk solids. Dark chocolate is often known as bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. They are slightly different based on sugar content that can be used for cooking and baking purposes.
The easiest way to learn whether you’re chocolate is dark or not. You would need to select the one which has 70% of total cocoa content. Dark chocolate has the most potent antioxidant content. It gives a more significant antioxidant effect than any antioxidant fruits like acai berries or blueberries.
According to research, you have linked eating dark chocolates with reduced heart disease risk and improved brain function.
Ingredients you must look for in the dark chocolate –
If you want to have pure dark chocolate, you must go for the one with the brand that uses the minimum ingredients. The first ingredient of the best dark chocolate is either cocoa or chocolate liquor. Note that several cocoa forms can be listed on the chocolate bar like cocoa nibs, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder. All these additions are acceptable in dark chocolate.
A few other ingredients added to dark chocolate will improve its flavor, appearance, and shelf life. Few of them are harmless, while some add a negative impact on the chocolate’s overall quality.
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Sugar
To balance the taste, some amount of sugar is added to the dark chocolate bar. Sugar is an important component of dark chocolate; however, some brands opt to go overboard.
It isn’t easy to find a brand that doesn’t have any added sugar. However, the thumb rule is choosing the brand that does not have sugar listed first on the ingredients list. The higher the cocoa percentage, the lower the sugar content will be.
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Milk
The highest quality dark chocolate doesn’t have any milk added to it. The only exception is to have milk fat in it. Some of the chocolate brands add milk fat to dark chocolate to add flavor to it and soften it. Milk fat is not necessarily required to make dark chocolate.
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Flavors
Some of the dark chocolates are flavored with extracts, oils, and spices to enhance its taste. The commonly added flavor is vanilla. It is too much difficult to differentiate between natural and artificial flavors. Go for organic dark chocolate, if you want to have flavored dark chocolate. It is the only way that can make sure that the flavors are not artificial.
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Trans-fat
If you get dark chocolate with added trans-fat, then you must avoid it. Consumption of trans-fat is highly risky for your heart health. It is mostly added to improve the shelf life and consistency of the chocolate.
Do check the ingredients list to confirm that your chocolate doesn’t have added trans-fat. If it has hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil, then it is confirmed that it has trans-fat.
What is the optimum percentage of Cocoa powder in dark chocolate?
The range of cocoa powder varies for each brand of dark chocolate. At the time of buying the bar, you must opt for the one that has high cocoa content i.e. 70% or above. With high percentage of dark chocolate, the percentage of antioxidants and nutrients also gets enhanced.
If you consume dark chocolate with high cocoa content, then it would help you to improve the health of your heart and functioning of the brain. It also tends to have lower sugar content.
A few brands of dark chocolate that you must try –
Here is the list of a few brands of best dark chocolate that you can try without risking your taste experience of dark chocolate.
Best Vegan Dark Chocolate –
HU Vegan Salty Dark Chocolate Bar
Specification –
- 70% organic cocoa
- Vegan
- No added cane or refined sugar
- Non gluten, non-dairy chocolate bar
- Free from emulsifiers and palm oil
- Non- GMO
Ingredients –
- Organic fair-trade cacao
- Organic Cocoa butter
- Sea salt
- Unrefined organic coconut sugar
Features –
- Simple and high quality ingredients
- Salty twist in the chocolate
- No weird ingredients
Best for baking –
Guittard Bitter-Sweet Chocolate Bar
Specifications –
- Non GMO
- Gluten free
- Free from peanuts
- 70% Cacao
Ingredients –
- Cocoa butter
- Sunflower lecithin
- Cacao beans
- Pure cane sugar
Features –
- Bitter sweet flavoured
- Heat sensitive chocolate bar
- Best to use for baking purpose.
Best unroasted chocolate bar –
Raaka unroasted dark chocolate
Specifications –
- 100% Cacao
- Organic
- Unroasted
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Soy free
- Nut free
Ingredients –
- Organic cacao beans
- Organic cacao butter
Features –
- Made into bar from cacao beans.
- Creamy and non-bitter
- A subtle tingling fruity sweetness.
- No added sugar
Buyer’s Checklist –
If you want to have the best dark chocolate, then here is the list of the distinct characteristics that it must have –
- Cocoa comes first in the ingredients list.
- It must include 70% or a high percentage of cocoa.
- It must not have unnecessary ingredients like artificial flavorings, trans-fat, high sugar amount, milk, or any other ingredient.
- Avoid processing of chocolate through Alkali processing or Dutching.
- The fair-trade and organic dark chocolate is most likely to be pesticide-free, high-quality, and ethically sourced.
Ensure these points in the checklist to get the highest quality dark chocolate with the goodness of antioxidants and nutrients.
Takeaway –
Hopefully, now you have understood the right way to check for the best chocolates as not to have any heart disease. After having a quick read of this article, you are now ready to buy antioxidant and nutrient-rich chocolate.