A new study reveals that consuming dark chocolate is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
- Choosing dark chocolate over milk chocolate can make a big difference to your health, researchers say.
- Eating 5 servings of dark chocolate per week reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes by 21%.
- An increase in milk chocolate consumption, for its part, is associated with weight gain.
Good news for foodies. Chocolate is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. However, as revealed by the study carried out by a team from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, this beneficial effect is only observed with dark chocolate.
This work is detailed in an article in the journal BMJ from December 4, 2024.
Type 2 diabetes: risk reduced by 21% with dark chocolate
Dark or milk… Do all chocolates have the same effects on health, and more particularly the risks of type 2 diabetes. To answer this question, scientists followed 192,000 non-diabetic people at the start of the study for over 30 years. Over the years, volunteers were asked to detail their eating habits, including chocolate consumption. They were also asked to specify their weight and whether they had been diagnosed with diabetes. At the end of the research, nearly 19,000 participants had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Of the approximately 11,000 people who specifically reported their consumption of dark and milk chocolate, nearly 5,000 had type 2 diabetes.
The results show that participants who ate at least five servings of chocolate per week had a 10% lower risk of developing the disease than those who did not consume this treat. But additional analysis showed that not all chocolates are created equal. In fact, snacking on 5 servings of dark chocolate per week reduced the risk of developing chronic disease by 21%. Researchers also observed a 3% reduction in risk for each serving of dark chocolate consumed per week.
The conclusions were very different for milk chocolate. The latter was not associated with a lower risk of diabetes. On the contrary, the team showed that an increase in milk chocolate consumption was linked to long-term weight gain, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes and dark chocolate: polyphenols make the difference
“We were surprised by the clear division between the impact of dark chocolate and milk chocolate on diabetes risk and long-term weight management”underlines Qi Sun, professor in the departments of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and corresponding author. He puts forward a hypothesis on the difference observed in the press release of its establishment. “Even though dark chocolate and milk chocolate have similar levels of calories and saturated fat, it appears that the rich polyphenols in dark chocolate may offset the effects of saturated fat and sugar on weight gain and diabetes. This is an intriguing difference that deserves further exploration.”
“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.”adds Binkai Liu, lead author of this study on type 2 diabetes.
