Diabetes and Chocolate

Chocolates - Who does not like chocolates?

Almost everyone, be it a kid, a middle-aged person, or an old-aged person, all love to have chocolates.
They are so tempting that once you start on a bar, it is difficult to stop before it ends.

Chocolates come in 3 main types —milk chocolate, white chocolate, and dark chocolate.  Plus they come in different flavors and combinations . Each one has his/her favorite flavor.

1. Milk Chocolate 

This is the most commonly known variety of chocolate. It is prepared by mixing sugar, milk, cocoa solids and cocoa butter.  It contains 12% milk and 10% chocolate liquor.

2. White chocolate 

White chocolate as the name suggests is cream or ivory in color made by combining cocoa butter, milk, sugar, vanilla, and lecithin an emulsifier.  Interestingly, white chocolate does not contain cocoa solids.

3. Dark chocolate 

Dark chocolate which is deep brown in color is made up of only 2 ingredients chocolate liquor and sugar.  According to FDA, dark chocolate should have at least 15% chocolate liquor.  A good quality dark chocolate does not contain dairy or milk products and can be considered vegan-friendly.

Out of the 3 types, dark chocolate gets more marks due to its nutritional properties. 

The 8 reasons why one must opt for dark chocolate are as follows

1.  Prevent heart disease and lower risk of stroke

The flavonoids present in dark chocolate help in maintaining heart health.  These chemicals aid in producing nitric oxide which in turn helps relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure.

2.  Help in improving cognition, prevent memory loss and boost mood

It is seen that consuming high concentrations of dark chocolate may benefit brain function.  The remarkable improvement in the health of brain may be due to flavonoids present in dark chocolate.

 3.  Good for weight loss and gut health

Interestingly, eating chocolate can play a role in controlling appetite and thus indirectly help in weight loss too.  

 A Neuroscientist, Mr. Will Clower, Ph.D., in his book named Eat Chocolate, Lose Weight, has said that having a bit of dark chocolate before or after meals does trigger the hormones that signal our brain about our tummy being full.

4.  Help in the prevention of cancer

We all know free radicals are harmful to our body and can cause inflammation and diseases like cancer, heart disease, etc.

The 2 chief flavonoids in dark chocolate namely epicatechin and quercetin are shown to have anti-cancer properties and thus help in preventing cancer.

5. Beneficial for skin 

Dark chocolate is filled with minerals and vitamins like magnesium, iron, and copper which are good for the skin. 

6. Helps in boosting good cholesterol

Dark chocolate with almonds and unsweetened cocoa helps to lower the 'bad cholesterol' while cocoa butter is seen to improve the good cholesterol too known as HDL.

7.  It's delicious

Dark chocolate is not only nutritious due to antioxidants, fiber, potassium, calcium, copper, and magnesium but it is delicious too.

8.  Diabetes and dark chocolate

Now, comes the most important point - what are the benefits in terms of diabetes?

Is dark chocolate good for diabetics?

Having chocolate each day doesn’t seem to be a good idea but studies show that having healthy amounts of dark chocolate may actually improve the metabolism of glucose in our body.  Oxidative stress according to scientists is the main cause of insulin resistance and flavonoids found in dark chocolate reduce oxidative stress and in turn, helps in reducing the risk of diabetes.

journal Appetite published an article in 2017 where the study showed that participants who consumed dark chocolate at least once per week were at less risk of developing diabetes.

Following the above, also raises a question, which dark chocolate is best for diabetics? 

Choosing a good quality dark chocolate is always feasible.  One tends to eat it less due to its stronger taste than milk chocolate.

Does dark chocolate raise blood sugar levels?

Dark chocolate has a low amount of carbs and high cocoa solids plus there is no milk involved, so it does not really affect one's sugar levels much as standard milk chocolate. Hence it is the healthiest pick.

How much dark chocolate can a diabetic eat per day?

According to FFD norms, one can definitely have a piece of dark chocolate once in a while.  Remember, even though dark chocolate is a good choice as compared to milk chocolate, it is still chocolate, a high-calorie food with saturated fat. So having it in moderation is the only key.

Chocolate lovers... do opt for Dark Chocolate and enjoy!

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