Calcium supplementation of chocolate: effect on cocoa butter digestibility and blood lipids in humans

Background: The digestibility of cocoa butter was reported in animal but not human studies to be low (60-70% and 89-94%, respectively). These differences could be due to the much higher ratio of calcium to fat (by wt) in the diet of rats (0.04-0.18) than in that of humans (0.01). Objective: We investigated whether supplementation of chocolate with 0.9% calcium (by wt), as an integral part of a Western diet, reduces absorption of cocoa butter and hence the digestible energy value of chocolate. We also assessed the effect of calcium supplementation on the blood lipid profile. Design: Ten men were fed control diets containing 98-101 g chocolate/d with or without a 0.9%-Ca supplement (0.9 g Ca/d) for 2 periods of 2 wk each. The study was conducted with use of a randomized, double-blind crossover design under free-living conditions but with strict control of food intake. Results: Calcium supplementation of chocolate increased fecal fat 2-fold (from 4.4 to 8.3 g/d; P < 0.0001) and reduced the absorption of cocoa butter by 13.0%. This was due mainly to an increase in the excretion of palmitic and stearic acids (3.3 g/d), which reduced the absorbable energy value of the chocolate by <approximate to>9%. This supplementation also reduced plasma LDL cholesterol by 15% (P < 0.02); HDL cholesterol was unchanged. Conclusions: Calcium supplementation can be used as a means of reducing the absorbable energy value of chocolate. Supplementation with 2.25% CaCO3 had no effect on the taste of chocolate, was well tolerated by the subjects, and reduced LDL cholesterol in a short-term study.