Is hot chocolate better than coffee? This is the question that has been asked by many people, especially those who want to stay away of caffeine’s side effects. We will see the comparisons between hot chocolate vs coffee below based on the nutrition, health benefits, and potential health risks to help you choose.
Continue reading below to learn more about
– How many calories that hot chocolate and coffee actually contain
– The nutritional values in hot chocolate and coffee
– The health benefits of hot chocolate vs coffee
– The health risks of hot chocolate and coffee
– And which drink that is generally more recommended
Calories and Nutrition
First of all, let’s see the calories and nutritional values of each drink here. If you don’t need to worry about weight gain, hot chocolate is fine. However, if you are currently trying to lose some weight, hot chocolate is less recommended than coffee. This is because hot chocolate contains considerably higher calories. See also: Hot Cocoa vs Hot Chocolate.
A glass of hot chocolate with cream and syrup contains approximately 1302 kJ or 311 calories. That is really high, and may become even higher if you add some sugar or marshmallows. Hot chocolate usually contains a high amount of sugar, which is bad for diabetes. Compared to coffee, hot chocolate also has a higher amount of fat which comes from the cocoa butter, milk, and cream.
On the other hand, coffee generally has lower calories. A cup of drip coffee with no milk or sugar contains very little calories. Meanwhile, a serving of latte only has approximately 420 kJ or 100 calories; most of the calories come from the milk.
Caffeine
As a matter of fact, both hot chocolate and coffee contain caffeine. Both hot chocolate and coffee can help you stay awake throughout the day. However, the amount of caffeine in hot chocolate is much lower. According to Livestrong, this is just a trace amount of about 5 mg or so. On the other hand, coffee is known for its caffeine, which may range from 80 mg to 200 mg.
Caffeine is indeed useful for keeping you awake and focused. However, too much caffeine is also bad for the body. Excessive caffeine consumption may cause headaches, insomnia, tremor, anxiety, rapid heart rate, and increased blood pressure. Excessive caffeine consumption has also been linked to atherosclerosis. So, limit your caffeine intake –experts say that the maximum caffeine intake is 400 mg per day, but people may have different tolerance levels.
Other Health Benefits
Actually, both hot chocolate and coffee are rich in antioxidants. However, hot chocolate has some slight advantages. It contains theobromine and flavonoids that can reduce blood pressure, make you relax, and improve your mood. The antioxidants can help to prevent some cancers.
On the other hand, coffee has more pros and cons. Coffee has been shown to be able to lower the risks of some cancers, reduce uric acid and prevent gout, and prevent diabetes. However, coffee has much higher caffeine, so excessive consumption may cause nasty side effects from headaches, insomnia, tremor, anxiety, rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure, to atherosclerosis.
Hot Chocolate vs Coffee
| Hot Chocolate | Coffee |
|---|---|
| - Higher sugar, fat, and calories | - Lower sugar, fat, and calories |
| - Just a trace amount of caffeine | - Much higher caffeine |
| - Reduce blood pressure, make you relax, and improve your mood, prevent some cancers | - Reduce uric acid and prevent gout, and prevent diabetes, prevent some cancers |
| - Unlikely to cause caffeine-associated side effects | - May cause headaches, insomnia, tremor, anxiety, rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure, or atherosclerosis |
Conclusion
Each drink has its own pros and cons. Hot chocolate is great if consumed occasionally due to the rich antioxidants and health benefits. However, hot chocolate also has much higher sugar and calories, which may cause diabetes and obesity. For daily drinking, coffee is more recommended, but you need to drink it with moderation to avoid the side effects.