Dark Chocolate Helps Reduce Cardiovascular Risk Among Diabetics

Dark chocolate is high in polyphenols, a type of antioxidant, and previous studies have shown that cocoa polyphenols improve an individual’s cholesterol profile.  In that people with Type 2 diabetes are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease because one of the main contributory factors to heart disease is a low level of HDL (“good”) cholesterol, Steve Atkin, from the University of Hull (United Kingdom), and colleagues recruited 12 diabetics for a four-month long study.  Each subject received either dark chocolate containing 85% cocoa solids, or a chocolate bar that contained no cocoa solids but looked similar to the dark chocolate (placebo).  The subjects who received the dark chocolate ate 15 grams three times daily, containing 24 grams of sugar: the researchers note that chocolate has a low glycemic index (GI), so the glucose released into the blood from the sugars happens very slowly.  At the conclusion of the stud period, among those who ate the dark chocolate, HDL (“good”) cholesterol increased significantly, and the total cholesterol:HDL ratio decreased significantly.  Neither weight nor glycemic control were adversely affected. The team concludes that: “High polyphenol chocolate is effective in improving the atherosclerotic cholesterol profile in patients with diabetes by increasing HDL cholesterol and improving the cholesterol:HDL ratio without affecting weight, inflammatory markers, insulin resistance or glycaemic control.”