‘Tis the season for chocolate lovers to go crazy.
Americans collectively spent nearly $7 billion on holiday candy in 2023, with sales expected to increase slightly this year.
Unfortunately, consuming too much chocolate can lead to weight gain, tooth decay, and an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol. But could it be fatal? Of course – if you eat enough.
The sweet treat is made from cocoa beans, which contain the mild stimulant theobromine. Large amounts of theobromine can be poisonous.
“Theobromine interferes with the nervous system, the respiratory system, and the cardiovascular system (eg, vasodilation), and results in excessive urination,” said Dr. Naveed Saleh wrote in a blog post for Psychology Today.
“In very high amounts, it can cause increased heart rate, sweating, tremors, loss of appetite, severe headaches and a drop in blood pressure,” Saleh added.
Popular Science reports that 1,000 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight is considered to be a toxic dose of theobromine in humans.
A person weighing 150 pounds (about 68 kg) would need to ingest about 68,000 mg of theobromine to become poisoned.
The amount of theobromine varies according to the type of chocolate. You won’t find much in white chocolate — there’s more in milk chocolate (2.4 mg theobromine per gram of chocolate), dark chocolate (5.5 mg per gram) and dark chocolate (16 mg per gram), according to Popular Science.
The outlet crunched the numbers and determined that a 165-pound chocoholic could theoretically fatally overdose from eating 711 regular-sized Hershey’s milk chocolate bars, 7,084 Hershey’s chocolate kisses, or 332 standard-sized Hershey’s dark chocolate bars. There are no reports of this ever happening.
While humans can metabolize theobromine quickly, many animals cannot.
Theobromine is the main reason you should not give chocolate to dogs, cats or birds. Sadly, an “inquisitive” wild parrot succumbed to tragedy after consuming what appeared to be dark chocolate.
A lethal dose of theobromine is considered to be 100-500 mg per kg of body weight in dogs.
Symptoms, which include vomiting (especially blood), increased thirst, shortness of breath or restlessness, excessive urination and a racing heart, tend to appear within two to 12 hours of eating chocolate.
If your dog accidentally eats chocolate, you should contact your veterinarian or the Pet Poison Helpline at (800) 213-6680 immediately.
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