Both forms of diabetes are conditions that are linked to and exacerbate other major health conditions. Numerous studies indicate that dark chocolate has a very favorable effect on blood sugar levels and the symptoms of diabetes.
How Does Dark Chocolate Minimize the Effects of Diabetes?
- Protects blood vessels from scarring because of excess glucose and insulin
- Minimizes symptoms of neuropathy
- Reduces incidences of insulin resistance and glucose intolerance
- Protects from cardiovascular symptoms related to blood-glucose abnormalities
How Does Dark Chocolate Minimize the Effects of Diabetes?
Not all chocolate is the same. Those chocolate products that use alkalized ("dutched") cocoa and that contain high amounts of sugar, oil, milk fats, and synthetic ingredients won't yield the same health benefits as healthy dark chocolate.
How Much Chocolate Should You Eat?
Recent studies on cacao have concluded that health benefits were obtained by consuming dark chocolate foods containing 600-900mg of flavonoids on a regular daily basis. Flavonoids are just one of the classes of antioxidant compounds found in abundance in cacao.
Findings from a 2008 double-blind trial in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology demonstrate that cocoa can mitigate the effects of diabetes. In the trial, diabetic subjects experienced a reversal of vascular dysfunction common to diabetics.
