Most of us would prefer chocolate for its taste and texture. People who go dark on milk may find a hidden benefit with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
Researchers from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Massachusetts led a study on the health and dietary habits of 111,654 nurses.
The biggest takeaway, based on an average 25-year follow-up: Eating five or more cups of dark chocolate per week increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to eating chocolate rarely or never. % decreased.
That's after excluding individuals with very high or low calorie intake and accounting for several important lifestyle and dietary factors in the records of those who remain. Additionally, dark chocolate seemed to help them keep weight down, too.
Curiously, no such relationship was found between milk chocolate and type 2 diabetes, but instead it was associated with weight gain.
“Increased consumption of dark rather than milk was associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes” write Researchers of published papers.
“Increased milk consumption, but not darkly, chocolate was associated with long-term weight gain.”
Now before you swap out one type of chocolate in your cupboard for another, it's worth emphasizing that the data here doesn't show direct cause and effect. Although some risk factors were controlled, many more may be at play.
However, despite the limitations of this study, the association between dark chocolate and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes is strong enough to warrant further investigation, including potential mechanisms in the workplace.
Dark chocolate is high in flavanols, a compound also found in fruits and vegetables, which are thought to have many health benefits. Flavanols have been previously associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, so they could be very important here.
“Intake of milk and white chocolate may not lead to the same metabolic health benefits due to increased sugar content, which is an established dietary risk factor for psychometabolic diseases.” write researcher.
2019 records Please show me around Diabetes commonly affects 463 million people, a number expected to reach 700 million over the next 20 years. This condition requires constant monitoring of diet and blood sugar levels, more serious medical complications.
Despite these daunting numbers, new discoveries are being made regularly about how you can reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, from getting more sleep to improving your diet. Getting to know dark chocolate can be a healthier option.
“Further randomized controlled trials are needed to replicate these findings and further investigate the mechanisms.” write researcher.
This study is published in BMJ.