Why You Should Never Eat Chocolate Before Bed

In addition to caffeine, chocolate has one other compound that could keep you up at night, and it's one we hardly ever talk about. Theobromine is mostly found in cocoa beans, and because it is an alkaline, it belongs to the same chemical family as caffeine. According to Frontiers in Pharmacology, theobromine and caffeine work hand in hand not just to boost our enjoyment of foods that have these compounds, like chocolate, but they also raise our mood and alertness levels.

Theobromine levels in chocolate work the same way caffeine levels do — the darker the chocolate, the more caffeine and theobromine you'll find. It is because of this that the National Sleep Foundation recommends you give chocolate, coffee, tea, and soft drinks a hard pass before bedtime (via The New York Times). And if you must have chocolate, registered dietitian Cassie Christopher tells Health Digest that you're best having "a small square of dark chocolate," which might have slightly elevated levels of theobromine and caffeine, but will also have less of the sugar that can act as an extra stimulant, which you don't need before bedtime.