Chocolate Research: Worst Study of the Week
New research suggests that regular consumption of chocolate may weaken bone density and strength, which in turn could increase the risk of health problems such as osteoporosis and fracture.
According to the study, published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women who eat chocolate daily have an overall bone density 3.1 per cent lower than those who consume it less than once a week.
Already, the media is reporting things like this statement found on the normally smart Nutraingredients website: The findings will surely come as a blow to the positive image of dark chocolate, often feted for having its heart-healthy properties.
Why is this the dumbest study ever done? Because- I hope you're sitting down- the researchers didn't bother to distinguish among the types of chocolate consumed!
Yes, you heard right. So what the researchers essentially found was that women who eat candy on a daily basis have weaker bones than those who don't. There was absolutely no distinction made between a Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar (which has virtually no protective flavanols) and an 80% cocoa dark chocolate treat.
This is why people go nuts when they hear nutrition research and feel like experts don't know what they're talking about. Many studies say chocolate is great (for lowering blood pressure among other things) and now this study says it's bad. No wonder the public gets confused.
But the truth is, they're using the word chocolate to talk about two entirely different substances. A candy bar with tons of sugar, wax, emulsifiers, chocolate flavoring and no naturally occurring phenols to speak of is not the chocolate we mean when we talk about high cocoa dark chocolate, even though these researchers didn't seem to notice the difference, and referred to both of them as "chocolate".
Since the researchers didn't bother to find out, let me venture a wild guess. The ladies in this study were not consuming 70% cocoa dark chocolate daily, they were eating candy bars. Just a wild guess.
The results of this study should have been reported this way: Sugar contributes to weak bones.
This study actually has nothing to do with the kind of chocolate I wrote about in The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, and that you've correctly heard is a very healthy food. It has to do with candy and sugar. It's unbelievable that the researchers didn't know enough to distinguish the two.
According to the study, published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women who eat chocolate daily have an overall bone density 3.1 per cent lower than those who consume it less than once a week.
Already, the media is reporting things like this statement found on the normally smart Nutraingredients website: The findings will surely come as a blow to the positive image of dark chocolate, often feted for having its heart-healthy properties.
Why is this the dumbest study ever done? Because- I hope you're sitting down- the researchers didn't bother to distinguish among the types of chocolate consumed!
Yes, you heard right. So what the researchers essentially found was that women who eat candy on a daily basis have weaker bones than those who don't. There was absolutely no distinction made between a Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar (which has virtually no protective flavanols) and an 80% cocoa dark chocolate treat.
This is why people go nuts when they hear nutrition research and feel like experts don't know what they're talking about. Many studies say chocolate is great (for lowering blood pressure among other things) and now this study says it's bad. No wonder the public gets confused.
But the truth is, they're using the word chocolate to talk about two entirely different substances. A candy bar with tons of sugar, wax, emulsifiers, chocolate flavoring and no naturally occurring phenols to speak of is not the chocolate we mean when we talk about high cocoa dark chocolate, even though these researchers didn't seem to notice the difference, and referred to both of them as "chocolate".
Since the researchers didn't bother to find out, let me venture a wild guess. The ladies in this study were not consuming 70% cocoa dark chocolate daily, they were eating candy bars. Just a wild guess.
The results of this study should have been reported this way: Sugar contributes to weak bones.
This study actually has nothing to do with the kind of chocolate I wrote about in The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, and that you've correctly heard is a very healthy food. It has to do with candy and sugar. It's unbelievable that the researchers didn't know enough to distinguish the two.
Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S. is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health and is the author of several best-selling books.
I love chocolate. I love it so much I actually wrote my senior research paper about it. The true benefit from antioxidants that chocolate can give comes straight from the seeds, but those taste horrible (very bitter) and are pretty much inedible. Another problem with chocolate we have is how it's made. Any alkaline will destroy the antioxidants and if the boiling point of the milk is wrong the milk will curdle and sour (hence why Hershey's has that acidic taste compared to swiss chocolate).
Sorry I'm running off topic again. The problems people find with chocolate spawn from the fact that -milk- chocolate is diluted by sweet fats so candy bars are composed of fat+fat+sugar. Dark chocolate has less fat depending on the percentage and is more expensive because the principle ingredient is no longer milk.
Anyways even though dark chocolate is better than milk for antioxidants, both of them are still very fatty and addicting (I won't go into the reasons and what not for the sake of space) and should be eaten in moderation. Also I didn't mention white chocolate because white chocolate isn't even chocolate since it is made with the pulp of a cacao pod and not the seeds themselves.
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