Dark chocolate daily helps prevent diabetes and heart disease

by Stepy — May 3, 2016

Dark chocolate daily helps prevent diabetes and heart disease

Dark chocolate daily helps prevent diabetes, according to new research from the University of Warwick Medical School, United Kingdom.

We reported last week that eating dark chocolate helps boost athletic performance, and the benefits of the sweet treat keep coming.

Dark chocolate (organic and at least 70% cacao) is widely considered a super food by health experts. It has shown the potential to fight Alzheimer’s, reduce blood pressure, and even protect from heart disease.

In the new study from Warwick, data taken from 1,153 people ages 18-69 from the Observation of Cardiovascular Risk in Luxembourg (ORISCAV-LUX) was analyzed. The researchers found that those who ate 100g of chocolate per day had reduced insulin resistance and better liver enzymes.

As stated in the study abstract:

After excluding subjects taking antidiabetic medications, higher chocolate consumption was associated with lower HOMA-IR (β=−0·16, P=0·004), serum insulin levels (β=−0·16, P=0·003) and γ-GT (β=−0·12, P=0·009) and ALT (β=−0·09, P=0·004), after adjustment for age, sex, education, lifestyle and dietary confounding factors, including intakes of fruits and vegetables, alcohol, polyphenol-rich coffee and tea. This study reports an independent inverse relationship between daily chocolate consumption and levels of insulin, HOMA-IR and liver enzymes in adults, suggesting that chocolate consumption may improve liver enzymes and protect against insulin resistance, a well-established risk factor for cardiometabolic disorders. Further observational prospective research and well-designed randomised-controlled studies are needed to confirm this cross-sectional relationship and to comprehend the role and mechanisms that different types of chocolate may play in insulin resistance and cardiometabolic disorders.

Professor Stranges, the lead author and his colleagues believe their findings suggest that eating dark chocolate daily helps prevent diabetes.

Stranges concluded: “Given the growing body of evidence, including our own study, cocoa-based products may represent an additional dietary recommendation to improve cardiometabolic 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.”

The study showing that dark chocolate daily helps prevent diabetes was published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

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REFERENCES:
1. “Daily Chocolate Intake Linked to Lower Risk of Diabetes, Heart Disease.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, n.d. Web. 02 May 2016.
2. “Eating Chocolate Each Day Could Reduce Heart Disease and Diabetes Risk.” Warwick. University of Warwick Medical School, n.d. Web. 02 May 2016.
3. “Daily Chocolate Consumption Is Inversely Associated with Insulin Resistance and Liver Enzymes in the Observation of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Luxembourg Study.” British Journal of Nutrition. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2016.
4. “First Nationwide Survey on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg (ORISCAV-LUX).” National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 02 May 2016.