Chocolate - Is it Keeping You Up At Night?

A lifetime of insomnia issues has made me compulsively careful about my habits. In the interest of getting a good night's sleep, I try to exercise daily, resolve stressful issues before bedtime and keep my bedroom free of distractions. Oh, and I never, ever have caffeine after 3 pm. A diet coke, a cup of tea -- if it's got even a trace of caffeine in it, it's not going into my mouth at night.

Sadly, I might have to cut out chocolate before bed too. According to The New York Times, a bar of dark chocolate can have the same amount of caffeine as a cup of instant tea -- about 30 milligrams. That's not all -- dark chocolate also has theobromine, a known stimulant that has been linked to sleeplessness.

The silver lining? This is only true of dark chocolate. White chocolate, on the other hand, has no caffeine or theobromine, but it does have a lot of sugar.

(via Fitsugar)