Chocolate keeps diabetes away: Study

A new study claims that, consuming small amount of chocolate everyday, would make one stay away from the diabetes.

After conducting the research on 1153 people aged 18-69 years, the researchers found out that, eating 100 grams of chocolate everyday, can reduce insulin resistance and improves liver enzymes. Insulin resistance is considered as a risk factor to cardiovascular disease, the researchers say.  

After finding the benefits of chocolate, the researchers have decided to analyze a nation sample of adults, taking their lifestyle and dietary factors into account and including the simultaneous consumption of tea and coffee.

Also read: Anti-diabetic drug ‘Metformin’ may help keep cholesterol at check

This is because both tea and coffee can be high in polyphenol, which may provide chocolate, with its beneficial cardiometabolic effects, researchers said.

Reacting to the case above, Saverio Stranges from University of Warwick, UK, said, “Given the growing body of evidence, including our own study, cocoa-based products may represent an additional dietary recommendation to improve cardio-metabolic health; however, observational results need to be supported by robust trial evidence.”

“Potential applications of this knowledge include recommendations by healthcare professionals to encourage individuals to consume a wide range of phytochemical-rich foods, which can include dark chocolate in moderate amounts,” said Stranges.

"However, it is important to differentiate between the natural product cocoa and the processed product chocolate, which is an energy-dense food," he added.

Over 80% of the people participated in the research, have claimed to eat 24.8 gram of Chocolate, on an average, everyday.

Those who ate chocolate regularly were younger and more physically active, than those who did not eat.

"It is also possible that chocolate consumption may represent an overall marker for a cluster of favourable socio-demographic profiles, healthier lifestyle behaviours and better health status," said Alaa Alkerwi from Luxembourg Institute of Health. The findings were published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

By Phani Ch