Bone Density Death by Chocolate

Andrew hides bars of my favourite chocolate around the house to pull out in emotional emergencies. Smart man. Although I’m not a fan of the chocolate/bacon combo, I bow to the irony of chocolate having saved his bacon more than once. It’s hard to yell at someone when your mouth’s full.

Unfortunately, I might start yelling because of the chocolate. Sure it’s full of heart-healthy flavonols and the happy hormone precursor, tryptophan, but a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found women who ate chocolate daily had lower bone density than women who restrained themselves.

I’m refusing to panic. The women in the study were between 70 and 85 and, while I can’t back this up with paperwork, I’m pretty sure they weren’t taking their Geratol regularly.

Apparently, the culprits lurking in my favourite treat are oxalate, which inhibits calcium absorption, and sugar, which is linked to calcium excretion.

Well, I got five, count ’em, five bars of Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate with Ginger for Christmas and can’t appear ungrateful. So until science publishes a contradictory study, I’ll let the ginger settle my stomach while I risk my bones for courtesy’s sake.