Then there’s that little problem of the caffeine in the coffee part of the drink. The jury is still out on just how much milk you have to add to the coffee to counteract the widely-known fact that caffeine leaches calcium from the body. It would appear that a mostly-milk latte is an improvement over just a dash of milk, but there is no clear consensus—we just don’t know.
Clearly, that grande latte is not as great as the reader board makes it sound (unless you’re a very sleepy calf). So what to do? It’s not like there are no other sources of calcium out there, with better bioavailability and no calcium-leaching animal proteins. Indeed, the list is long and varied: Molasses, dark salad greens, cabbage, broccoli, green beans, cucumber, peas, soybeans, squash, beans, nuts, cocoa, kiwi, maple syrup, brown sugar, tomatoes. Did you note those foods also are a great source of other good things as well? And did you notice that cocoa was on the list?
The problem here, though, is more than the nutrients and their inner workings in our bodies. Michael Pollan Eater’s Manifesto deals with this subject extensively, noting that we have abandoned traditional diets in deference to the scientists, whom he likens to high priests on the altar of the church of nutritionism. His thesis is that by focusing our attention on the small bits—vitamins, minerals, etc.—that make up our food, we are headed down the wrong path. We blindly follow scientists who identify and sing praises for the nutrient du jour (just read the papers for the latest study on [name nutrient here] found in [put food name here]). This somehow assumes that these scientists even know what they all are, and more importantly, that they completely understand the living dynamic of how nutrients interact with other foods and in our bodies. In other words, we don’t know a lot more than we do know.
I doubt I can change the world by going door-to-door with my message that people are following the wrong religion. Which is why I shall continue to buck the trend and quietly (and not so quietly) eat food, real food, that I prepare myself whenever possible. And it shall include my morning cup of cocoa, made with a rotating selection of politically correct chocolate products and either homemade soy or almond milk. Not to mention that even with my indulgent chocolate spending habits, it’s cheaper and frankly, tastes a whole lot better. Maybe mom did know best: she certainly is a lot more forthcoming with the full story than the green mermaid.
