Eating Chocolate Could Weaken Your Bones
According to a new study, eating chocolate could weaken your bones and make you more likely to suffer fractures.
On the other hand, eating dark chocolate has been shown to reduce high blood pressure.
So is the glass half-empty or half-full?
The study was conducted by Australian researchers and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The researchers found that women who ate chocolate every day had lower bone density than those who ate chocolate less than once a week.
The low bone density was discovered in the neck, hips, tibia and heel bones of the women who were surveyed.
But these 1,001 women were 70 to 85 years old. Even the researchers acknowledge that other factors could have influenced the results.
Also, the results don’t hold for younger women or men.
Critics say the results aren’t statistically significant.
But the researchers believe that the oxalate in chocolate may reduce calcium absorption, which is one reason why chocolate may weaken your bones.
Chocolate also contains sugar, which is linked to calcium excretion.
As we all know, calcium is believed to be important to bone health.
So does eating chocolate weaken your bones? This study hardly seems conclusive. It sure won’t inspire me to give up chocolate. How about you?
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