Q. I was excited about a recent column describing health benefits from chocolate. Would high-quality chocolate include Snickers bars? What would be considered a moderate amount, to get the health benefits?
A. High-quality chocolate is dark chocolate (at least 70 percent cocoa solids, and not alkali processed). A good “dose” is 5 to 15 grams daily, which should be just under 100 calories. This is not a large piece of chocolate, but it can be both delicious and heart healthy.
A traditional Snickers bar contains milk chocolate, weighs 58.7 grams and has 280 calories. Milk chocolate does not have the same benefits as dark chocolate.
