Hot chocolate is a cozy beverage to become warm on a cold day in winter while enjoying your favorite chocolaty drink.
However, hot chocolate contains caffeine, making it concerning for health and sleep, especially for kids and weak adults.
In this case, knowing how much caffeine is in a cup of hot chocolate can be a good idea to determine the intake limit and enjoy the drink to avoid health risks.
Read on to learn how much caffeine is contained in a cup of hot chocolate, the consumption limit, and tips to enjoy this drink to prevent health problems.
How Much Caffeine in a Hot Chocolate?
Though hot chocolate is mostly popular as a soothing winter beverage, it can be a great afternoon drink as well.
Like tea, soda, and coffee, hot chocolate has caffeine, which is a naturally occurring refreshment and essential for an energy boost.
The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee depends on the process of making the drink. Typically, a cup of hot chocolate contains 25 mg of caffeine.
The amount of caffeine in a cup of hot chocolate can be less than this number if made of cocoa mix.
For instance, 6-ounce cups of hot chocolate made from the standard hot chocolate mix usually have 5 mg of caffeine.
Is caffeinated hot chocolate healthier?
Compared to other hot beverages, hot chocolate contains considerably less caffeine. So drinking hot chocolate might not cause insomnia or anxiety.
In this case, you can consider hot chocolate the healthiest source of caffeine among other hot beverages.
But apart from the caffeine, this delicious sweet treat is rich in sugar, making it less preferable than tea and coffee in terms of health.
How Much Caffeine Should You Drink a Day?
Though caffeine stamina is impressive, the reaction to caffeine varies from individual to individual. The reason is that the genes of every person have different sensitivities to this drink.
Therefore, someone can’t drink after 2 pm while others can drink in the evening and sleep comfortably.
In general, a person should drink around 400 mg of coffee a day. But a pregnant woman shouldn’t drink more than 200mg, while children should drink 45mg to 100 mg.
You can drink confidently without exceeding the daily intake limit, considering that most American coffee cups hold 150 mg of coffee on average.
Can You Drink Hot Chocolate Without Caffeine?
Typically, a cup of hot chocolate contains a very small amount of caffeine that is hardly noticeable.
Five mg of caffeine will neither upset your stomach nor keep you awake at night. You can stick with Swiss Miss instead of Starbucks to keep the caffeine intake low.
But if you are willing to avoid caffeine, drink white chocolate. This white chocolate isn’t made of cacao beans, so it doesn’t have any chocolate.
Though white chocolate can be rich in sugar, it won’t have caffeine. So you can buy white chocolate from popular brands like Ghiradelli.
Final Words
Hot chocolate contains a very low amount of caffeine, and it is unlikely to hurt your health even if you consume it daily.
However, knowing how much caffeine in a cup of hot chocolate can make you aware and drink this hot beverage based on your health ability.
Despite this, if you are concerned about caffeine, start drinking white chocolate.