So last week’s Valentine’s Day festivities focused on love, which was largely expressed, celebrated and/or bemoaned with at least a taste of chocolate and its potent allure. Although my Valentine rendered the Hallmark-honed day fantastic, I found myself rather disheartened by reading a recent study’s association of chocolate and reduced bone mass. Considering the limited scope of the study, any conclusions drawn ought to be debated. I’m neither rushing to any conclusions nor abandoning my daily dose(s) of chocolate – which I preferably take as dark as possible considering how one of my favorite sports nutritionists, Liz Applegate, kind of justifes this.

Despite my daily additions (chocolate, caffeine, running, etc.) and their occasionally touted benefits, they may simultaneously pose potential detriment to my bone mass. After I experienced a few stress fractures over a few years, a bone mineral density (BMD) test pointed to osteopenia. A variety of factors, including increased volume and intensity of training, lack of estrogen, poor nutrition and lifestyle choices, facilitated this state of reduced bone density.

So, I’ve been maintaining a keen attention to all bone mass-related studies, hype, tricks and trades. It took realizing that I wanted to be able to run at age, say, 57 to sit down and examine what I needed to do to boost up my bones before they started losing bits of themselves – as all women’s do around age 30 IN PERPETUITY. As it turns out, the inevitable loss of bone mass is expedited by osteoporosis for a large population: half of all women will suffer from an osteoporosis fracture.
Ironically, I had been well-schooled in How- and Why-To-Prevent-Osteoporosis-101 by aunts, published articles and even a pilot study for adolescent girls. Although I took that education to heart, I suppose my efforts to increase (1) high impact/weight-bearing activity and (2) calcium-rich foods were (a) not implemented properly and (b) compounded with the aforementioned factors - such as low estrogen, intake of other substances such as caffeine and antiacids, low body and/or dietary fat, etc. - which may be hazardous to female’s bone health. As I mentioned a week or so ago, one of the easiest lessons I learned is to practice vigilance in my calcium consumption through diet and supplements.
It is often recommended that the female athlete take 1,000 – 1,500 mg of calcium each day.
Beyond mass-advertised and calcium-rich dairy products, which may offer other health benefits, other great calcium sources include soy products and my fave, leafy greens. Try low-fat products if you usually opt for fat-free; not only do the foods taste better, fat may enhance calcium’s absorption.
In terms of supplements, calcium contained is usually part of a compound such as calcium carbonate (see TUMS) or calcium citrate. These contain various amounts of elemental calcium. Before reaching for a handful of horse-pills, consider that your body absorbs approximately 500 mg of calcium at a time, as an endocrinologist pointed out to me; and verify the label contains the letters “USP,” which relates to standards of purity. I tend to prefer calcium citrate, which can be taken on an empty stomach, and space out my doses two to three times a day; but popping TUMS might be too convenient to avoid for another. Oh, and I cannot seem to pass up those calcium-fortified chocolates!