Dark chocolate consumption could decrease the chance of kind 2 diabetes by 21%, whereas milk chocolate doesn’t present comparable advantages, in keeping with a Harvard examine.
A brand new examine from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health means that consuming darkish chocolate, however not milk chocolate, could also be linked to a diminished threat of creating kind 2 diabetes (T2D).
“Our findings suggest that not all chocolate is created equal,” mentioned lead creator Binkai Liu, doctoral scholar within the Department of Nutrition. “For anyone who loves chocolate, this is a reminder that making small choices, like choosing dark chocolate over milk chocolate, can make a positive difference to their health.”
The examine shall be printed on-line Dec. 4 in The BMJ.
There is an present body of analysis on the connection between chocolate and T2D however findings have been inconsistent, and few research have differentiated between chocolate subtypes (darkish versus milk).
The researchers sought to fill this hole utilizing knowledge from the Nurses’ Health Studies I and II and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Over the course of 30+ years, 192,000 grownup individuals who have been free of diabetes on the examine’s outset reported on their food habits, together with chocolate consumption, in addition to their diabetes standing and body weight. By the tip of the examine interval, almost 19,000 of the whole individuals reported being identified with T2D. Of the almost 112,000 who reported particularly on their darkish and milk chocolate consumption, almost 5,000 have been identified with T2D.
Key Findings: Dark Chocolate Shows Promise
The examine discovered that individuals who consumed at the least 5 ounces of any kind of chocolate per week had a 10% decrease threat of T2D in comparison with those that by no means or hardly ever consumed chocolate. Dark chocolate had an excellent greater affect: Participants who consumed at the least 5 servings of this chocolate per week confirmed a 21% decrease threat of T2D. The researchers additionally noticed a 3% discount in threat for each serving of darkish chocolate consumed per week. Consumption of milk chocolate, in the meantime, was not related to diminished T2D threat. Increased consumption of milk chocolate, however not darkish chocolate, was related to long-term weight achieve, a possible contributor to the event of T2D.
“We were surprised by the clear split between dark and milk chocolate’s impact on diabetes risk and long-term weight management,” mentioned corresponding creator Qi Sun, affiliate professor within the Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology. “Even though dark and milk chocolate have similar levels of calories and saturated fat, it appears that the rich polyphenols in dark chocolate might offset the effects of saturated fat and sugar on weight gain and diabetes. It’s an intriguing difference that’s worth exploring more.”
The authors famous that individuals’ chocolate consumption was low relative to beforehand recorded nationwide averages and that the findings could not apply to people with very high chocolate consumption.
Reference: “Chocolate intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort studies” by Binkai Liu, Geng Zong, Lu Zhu, Yang Hu, JoAnn E Manson, Molin Wang, Eric B Rimm, Frank B Hu and Qi Sun, 4 December 2024, BMJ.
DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2023-078386
Other Harvard Chan authors included Lu Zhu, Yang Hu, JoAnn Manson, Molin Wang, Eric Rimm, and Frank Hu.
The examine was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grants UM1 CA186107, P01 CA87969, R01 HL034594, U01 CA176726, U01 CA167552, R01 HL035464, R01 HL60712, R01 DK120870, R01 DK126698, R01 DK119268, U2C DK129670, R01 ES022981, and R21 AG070375).