Can dark chocolate help you avoid diabetes?

As if we need another reason to love chocolate, a Harvard study suggests that eating the sweet treat is tied to lower risks of diabetes. But the particular type of chocolate matters, according to the findings published Dec. 7, 2024, in The BMJ. Scientists evaluated the self-reported dietary and health information of about 112,000 healthy middle-aged people who were followed for more than 30 years. Compared with people who rarely or never ate chocolate, those who had at least five ounces of dark chocolate each week had a 21% lower risk of developing diabetes. There were no significant diabetes risk reductions among people who ate milk chocolate. In fact, that treat was tied to weight gain, which can eventually boost diabetes risk. What's the magic of dark chocolate? Even though it has about the same amount of saturated fat and calories as milk chocolate, dark chocolate is lower in sugar and much richer in flavanols — plant chemicals known to have health benefits, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, plus cardiometabolic perks — changes that help your body pump blood and use food for energy. The authors suspect that the flavanols might offset the effects of dark chocolate's fat and sugar content, although more research is needed to confirm this.

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