The higher the cacao percentage in your chocolate, the more of these brain-healthy flavanols it will have—so pure dark chocolate with minimal sweeteners is preferable to a milk or white chocolate. These are mostly sugar, oil, and milk and won’t do much for the mind (except maybe give you a headache).
As far as how much dark chocolate to consume, brain health experts agree that 1 to 2 ounces a day—about a square or two of a typical bar—is plenty. You can’t expect one square of chocolate a day to squash all your stress, of course, but consider it one more helpful addition to your calming arsenal.
Other healthy habits to further combat the negative effects of stress include exercising daily, meditating, eating whole foods, and taking a soothing supplement like mbg’s calm+, formulated with EU-certified organic hemp oil, ashwagandha, and lavender oil to help balance mood daily.*
