# Hot chocolate: hydration, calories, theobromine

A 240 ml hot chocolate counts as 324 ml of hydration, better than water, because it is mostly milk. The trade is 168 calories per mug.

## Numbers the app uses

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Default serving | 240 ml |
| Hydration factor | 1.35 |
| Counts toward the daily goal | 324 ml per serving |
| Calories | 70 kcal per 100 ml (168 kcal per serving) |

## Milk is the best hydrating drink in the trial

The trial compared thirteen beverages by weighing urine output for the four
hours after a litre of each. Only three finished clearly ahead of still water:
an oral rehydration solution, skimmed milk and full-fat milk. Milk wins on two
mechanisms at once. It carries sodium and potassium, which is what signals the
kidneys to hold on to fluid. Its protein, fat and lactose also slow the rate at
which the stomach releases it. The water arrives as a trickle your body can
absorb rather than a flood it flushes.

A mug of hot chocolate is milk with cocoa and sugar stirred into it, so it
inherits most of that behaviour. The app rates it at 1.35, meaning a 240 ml mug
counts as 324 ml toward the day's goal. Only milk itself, kefir and chocolate
milk score higher in the catalog. Made with water instead of milk, none of this
holds. That version is a hot sweet drink with a hydration factor closer to
1.00. Edit the drink to say so.

## The stimulant in cocoa is not mainly caffeine

Cocoa contains a few milligrams of caffeine per mug. That is why the catalog
figure is zero and the app does not treat hot chocolate as a caffeinated drink.
What it does contain in quantity is theobromine, caffeine's chemical cousin. It
is a milder stimulant, and it works more on the heart and blood vessels than on
alertness. The body clears it more slowly than caffeine. That is the reason a
mug in the evening feels harmless and a bar of dark chocolate at midnight
sometimes does not.

Theobromine is also the reason chocolate is dangerous for dogs. They metabolise
it several times more slowly than we do. A dose that gives a person a mild lift
accumulates in a dog to something toxic.

## 168 calories is the price

Seventy calories per 100 ml puts a mug of hot chocolate above cola and above
beer. It is level with a small meal's worth of sugar and milk fat. The
hydration is real and so are the calories. Treating it as the day's water is a
decision rather than an accident. The app logs both figures against the same
drink so the trade is visible at the point you make it.

## Source

Hydration factors follow the Beverage Hydration Index. Maughan RJ, Watson P, Cordery PA, et al. “A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status: development of a beverage hydration index.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016;103(3):717-723. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26702122/

Page: https://waterchamp.app/drinks/hot-chocolate/