I know I'm late on my blog today, and I've got an excuse. A new study was just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showing that the older women who were subjects in the study, and who ate some chocolate every day, had a lower bone density compared to those women who ate chocolate only once a week or less.
Well, I really wanted to know more details before I blogged today, but I don't have them yet. I decided to let you know my questions about the details of the data collected so that you won't all worry that your hot cocoa every evening has been doing in your bones. Which I'm sure it is not.
The researchers believe that the reason the daily chocolate eaters had a lower bone density is because chocolate contains oxalate, a factor that binds to calcium and inhibits absorption. However, several years ago a study was done showing that there was no decrease in calcium absorption from chocolate milk compared to plain milk.
My big questions are: what chocolate were the ladies eating? How much chocolate were they eating? How much oxalate were they consuming each day? How much total calcium was in their diet?
These questions are critical in order to compare The Good Mood Diet suggestions with the relevancy of the research study. The Good Mood Diet is rich in calcium, which is consumed all day long. It is unlikely that one teaspoon of natural cocoa powder with your hot cocoa in the evening would be potent enough to have a significant impact on bone-mineral metabolism and density.
I have written to the author, Dr. Jonathan Hodgon, at The University of Western Australia School of Medicine, for the answers. When I receive them, I'll let you know. Until then, I'll keep drinking my hot cocoa.
Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner