Can eating chocolate reduce diabetes risk? Study answers

Eating five servings of dark chocolate and not the milk one a week may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes according to a longterm US studyPublished in the BMJ the researchers also found that increased consumption of milk but not dark chocolate was associated with longterm weight gainChocolate contains high levels of flavanols a natural compound found in fruits and vegetables which have been shown to promote heart health and reduce the risk of diabetesBut the link between chocolate consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes remains controversial due to inconsistent resultsIn addition most previous studies have not looked at whether eating dark and milk chocolate ndash which have different cocoa milk and sugar content ndash might have different impacts on the risk of type 2 diabetesTo explore this further researchers combined data from three longterm US observational studies of female nurses and male healthcare professionals with no history of diabetes heart disease or cancer when they were recruitedThey analysed associations between type 2 diabetes and total chocolate consumption for 192208 participants and chocolate subtype dark and milk consumption for 111654 participants over an average monitoring period of 25 yearsIn the analyses for total chocolate 18862 people developed type 2 diabetesAfter adjusting for personal lifestyle and dietary risk factors the authors found that people who ate at least five servings a week of any type of chocolate showed a significant 10 per cent lower rate of type 2 diabetes compared with those who rarely or never ate chocolateIn analyses by chocolate subtypes 4771 people developed type 2 diabetesAfter adjusting for the same risk factors people who ate at least five servings a week of dark chocolate showed a significant 21 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes but no significant associations were found for milk chocolate intakeThe researchers also found a 3 per cent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes for each additional weekly serving of dark chocolateldquoClinical trials needed to confirm findings and help identify reasons for dark chocolatersquos protective effectrdquo said researchersAlso ReadMedicinal plant Subabul may aid in diabetes control IASST study reveals moreThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever