Hello, and welcome to another Thinking on Thursday topic. Today, we are going to think about chocolate. I know controversial, right? But, for this month’s Health Challenge, I have been discussing Oxalates, and chocolate is very high in Oxalates. Well, sort of. Keep reading to learn more.
I have talked about chocolate before. Mostly in reference to chocolate being high in Phosphorus and Potassium. But, now I find out it is also high in Oxalates.
Yesterday, was National White Chocolate Day. I thought I always disliked white chocolate, but now I think I am in love. Why?
Strictly for the topic of Oxalates here are the differences in the types of chocolates, according to my Oxalates app:
- A serving size of 1.75 ounces of dark chocolate has 78 mg of Oxalates, and that is for 45-59% cocoa. It gets worse from there.
- The same serving size of milk chocolate has 39 mg of Oxalates. That is not horrible if you only eat that serving size.
- White chocolate and you get a more generous serving size of 2.5 ounces only has 3 mg of Oxalates. Oh yeah!
That is only for the chocolate. It does not include nuts, caramel, or peanut butter so be cautious.
As for the other concerns for chocolate, according to Davita 1 cup of chocolate chips contains at least 500 mg of Potassium, and at the very end of the spectrum 190 to 500 mg of Phosphorus. Thank goodness you wouldn’t eat all that at once, lol. Semi sweet chips are lower than milk chocolate chips. As for white chocolate, 1 cup of white chocolate chips contains 486 mg of Potassium, 299 mg of Phosphorus. So, while white chocolate is slightly better you do need to be mindful when you are eating these kinds of snack foods. One dietitian recommended that you limit your serving size of chocolate too a 100 calorie serving. Just for a more accurate visual of what 100 calories of chocolate would look like it would be 3 1/2 squares out of a whole bar of chocolate. That is not a lot of chocolate. But, if you can not live without chocolate at least there is an option. If you are on Dialysis please be sure and speak to your doctor before you consume chocolate. There is a video below for you to watch. I only watched the very first question because it pertained to chocolate. The rest of it was on other food topics related to CKD. She gives an interesting perspective on chocolate.
While researching this topic I found this website, that showed me what 100 calories of various snacks actually looks like. You might be surprised.
I did make a banana bar snack last week, and I put white chocolate chips in it with the idea of posting it today. Unfortunately I can not find where I put the recipe, and I am hoping I did not throw it away as it was super delicious and everyone loved it. I had worked out the stats per serving for Oxalates, Calories, Phosphorus. When I find it I will share it.
Do you love chocolate? Do you have CKD?
Sign up for my Mailchimp newsletter!
Living Life With CKD 