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In the rich literary genre of Celebrity Diets, a single square of dark chocolate has become the most notable and recognizable trope (followed closely by the ever-present handful of raw almonds). As each beautiful and famous woman recounts their meal plan, they’re prone to say that they like to wind down with just a bit of dark chocolate before bed — and you can imagine them taking a tiny nibble of a 99 percent cacao bar, smiling to themselves, and closing their eyes in satisfaction.



This is, without question, bullshit. Everybody knows milk chocolate tastes better! But milk chocolate is not as “healthy” as dark chocolate — something that may be changing soon, thanks to the scientists pouring their resources into solving one of the greatest problems of our time.



Researchers from North Carolina State University sought to raise the antioxidant levels in milk chocolate so that they were comparable to those in dark chocolate, without affecting the taste. They did so by extracting phenolic compounds from peanut skins, encapsulating them in maltodextrin, then adding that maltodextrin powder to the milk chocolate. Eighty subjects then tested out chocolate samples both with and without the additions and found no difference in taste.



It’ll likely be a while before any of this hits the market — if it ever does — so, in the meantime, go ahead and have another Reese’s Cup.