It's that time of the year when chocolate is surrounding us and you can't help but to accept when someone offers you an Easter egg. To get all the ins and outs of that treat we love to indulge, Banzai caught up with dietitian Bobbie Crothers.
1. Is it best to eat chocolate after exercise?
If you are wanting to refuel and recover properly, then no, there are much better snacks than chocolate after exercise. While chocolate is high in energy (kJ), it is also high in fat, which is not one of the most important nutrients needed after exercise. High carbohydrate and protein snacks are best after exercise such as a bowl of cereal and milk, low-fat yoghurt or low-fat fruit smoothie.
2. Is dark chocolate better than light chocolate?
The simple answer is no… sorry to disappoint! All chocolate is high in fat and unfortunately saturated fat, which is the worst kind. In fact a 50g bar of chocolate contain about 15g of fat, and as fat has the highest kJ content of any other nutrient is it no wonder chocolate is so energy dense. But what about the antioxidants I hear you say? Raw cocoa beans or cocoa solids, which are used to make chocolate, contain antioxidants called oligometric procyanidins or more commonly known as flavanols. There is some research to suggest these antioxidants are good for our health but the amounts actually present in chocolate are questionable. However if you need some sort of reason to make chocolate permissible then stick to the bitter, darker versions that have at least 70% cocoa solids. For some people dark chocolate is harder to over eat than the milky varieties as it isn’t as sweet… so actually, I have come up with one reason dark chocolate is better than light chocolate!
3. If I eat a chocolate bar before a run will I burn it off?
It really depends on who you are and how fast and far you run! Here are a few estimates to give you a guide:
• A 30 year old female weighing 60kg who is 165cm tall running for 30min at 5.5min/km pace would burn approximately 1330kJ (320cal).
• A 30 year old male weighing 80kg who is 170cm tall running for 30min at 5.5min/km pace would burn approximately 1740kJ (415cal).
Therefore if either of these people ate a 50g bar of milk chocolate which contains approximately 1115kJ (270cal) then they would have burnt enough energy to cover the energy provided by the chocolate bar.
Keep in mind that this is an estimate and everyone burns energy at different rates.
4. I’ve heard that chocolate can be rich in antioxidants. Is there any advantage to getting those antioxidants through chocolate specifically?
No, and the amount of antioxidants you actually get through chocolate is questionable. There are much healthier ways of getting antioxidants, for example tea or bright coloured berries are better way to get antioxidants without the extra kJ’s and saturated fat. My advice enjoy chocolate for what it is, an indulgent treat!
5. Is chocolate any better or worse for you than sugary lollies?
Unfortunately there is no lesser evil of the two! They are both energy dense and don’t contribute much to the diet other than energy (which many Aussie’s don’t need) making them empty kilojoules. While chocolate contains saturated fat, which we should be limiting in our diets, then some might say it is ‘worse’! But if you don’t over indulge, both can be included in a healthy balanced diet.
6. Which has most calories per gram – dark, milk or white chocolate?
There really isn’t any difference when it comes to energy, all varieties provide around 22kJ/g.
7. Is chocolate a good source of fuel during endurance events such as marathons and triathlons?
Surprisingly no! You might think that an energy dense food like chocolate could help when it comes to endurance events, however there is little evidence to support a benefit of consumption of high fat foods or supplements before or during endurance races. During exercise fat and carbohydrate in the body are major fuel sources. Even the leanest athlete however has a reserve of body fat that could fuel exercise for many days. It is carbohydrate stores that become the limiting factor in endurance events. Our muscles only have the capacity to store carbohydrate equal to about 1-2 hours of exercise, which means for long races such as ironman events it is possible to exhaust carbohydrate reserves. Therefore sports dietitians encourage athletes to focus on high carbohydrate foods and drinks rather high fat foods like chocolate before, during and after events such as marathons and triathlons.
8. If I exercise and burn off 500 kilojoules, can I justify eating a chocolate bar afterwards cause I’m now in ‘negative’ calories?
The fact that exercise burns calories (or kilojoules) doesn’t mean it’s ok to eat chocolate cause you have burnt or will burn it off. While your burning off the energy the saturated fat in the chocolate is still not good for your arteries! But exercising on the days you know you will be indulging in chocolate or any other treat is a good habit to get into.
9. If you’re on a health kick and given up chocolate, what are some alternatives when you’re craving it?
To be really honest a healthy diet does have room for some sweet treats like chocolate and depriving yourself of the things you love is not sustainable long term. If you are craving chocolate allow yourself to have a little, if you do, go for the good stuff and choose your favourite just don’t over do it. But if you know you won’t be able to stop once you start, try alternatives that give you that chocolatey taste like a bowl of Coco Pops with skim milk, a hot chocolate, or milk with a little Milo or chocolate flavouring.
10. What’s the healthiest chocolate bar in the vending machine?
The mini or ‘fun size’ versions… after all chocolate is chocolate and the healthiest way to eat it is in small, portion controlled packs! And if that fails grab a Milky Way they contain 465kJ (110cal) per bar and have over 9% less saturated fat than plain milk chocolate.
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