Women offered choc supplement for calcium gain
calcium by encouraging them to indulge their chocolate cravings.
The manufacturer of nutritional supplements, perhaps best known for its Gummi Bear children's supplements, has launched Healthy Indulgence. This tautological sounding delight is a line of calcium chocolate bites made with real chocolate.
Each chocolate bite contains 500 mg of calcium, 25 calories, two carbohydrates, no trans fats and up to 70 percent cacao. The manufacturers claim they also contain vitamin D, which aids in calcium absorption, as well as antioxidants, and are available in milk and dark chocolate varieties.
"Healthy Indulgence chocolate bites offer a unique and delicious way for women to get their daily dose of calcium," said Jennifer Hodges, founder and CEO of Hero Nutritionals.
Calcium is a particularly important mineral for women, with osteoporosis second only to cardiovascular disease as a leading health care problem, according to the World Health Organisation. Worldwide, the lifetime risk for a woman to have an osteoporotic fracture is 30-40 percent, yet in seven major countries - France, Germany, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Japan - less than half of women with osteoporosis are diagnosed, according to the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF).
In the next 50 years, the number of hip fractures for both men and women will more than double. This means the need for prevention is more urgent than ever.
When the Dietary Guidelines for Americans were updated last week by the Department of Agriculture, as they are every five years, one of the key points was that Americans in general need to consume more calcium.
"Diets that provide three cups or the equivalent of milk and/or milk products per day can improve bone mass," said the report. "This amount of milk product consumption may have additional benefits and is not associated with increased body weight."
The importance of having the right amount of calcium in the diet was picked up by the Grocery Manufactures of America (GMA), which encouraged the guidelines to consider functional foods when encouraging consumers to up their intake of calcium.
"The report does not provide recommendations for alternative sources of calcium," said Nelson. "Calcium-fortified foods and beverages are proven alternatives to dairy products for individuals who are lactose intolerant or who choose not to consume dairy products for religious or personal reasons," said Mark Nelson, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the GMA.
