A US study showed that eating no less than 140 grams of dark chocolate every week was associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. The relevant research report was published in the British Medical Journal on December 4. Researchers from the Chen Zengxi School of Public Health at Harvard University analyzed three surveys involving dietary habits spanning two to three decades, and recorded the consumption of dark chocolate and milk chocolate among over 110000 chocolate enthusiasts surveyed. After excluding risk factors such as diet and lifestyle, the researchers found that people who ate at least 140 grams of any type of chocolate every week had a 10% lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who rarely or never ate chocolate; Those who ate at least 140 grams of dark chocolate a week had a 21% lower risk of type 2 diabetes. However, long-term consumption of milk chocolate alone will not significantly reduce the risk of diabetes, but also lead to weight gain. The researchers explained that there is not much difference between dark chocolate and milk chocolate in terms of sugar addition, fat and calorie levels. The key is that dark chocolate contains more cocoa, which in turn contains a large amount of flavanols. Previous animal and small-scale human experiments have shown that flavanols can improve insulin sensitivity, reduce oxidative stress and inflammatory response, all of which are part of the pathophysiology of diabetes. However, the researchers also pointed out that although their research results showed that there was an association between eating dark chocolate and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, it could not prove that there was a causal relationship between the two. In addition, the study has certain limitations: the participants in the study were elderly white adults with relatively low consumption of chocolate. The results of this study also conflict with a study involving cocoa flavanols in December 2023, which did not find that cocoa consumption could reduce the risk of diabetes. Some experts believe that chocolate is a candy that contains sugar, and healthy people are not encouraged to consume chocolate in order to better control their blood sugar. Instead, they can consume flavanols through other sources such as dark berries like blueberries and blackberries, as well as pomegranate, apple, and tea. But if you are a chocolate lover, it's okay to eat a small amount of dark chocolate every week. (New Society)