Researchers concluded that eating pieces of dark chocolate 5 times a week while avoiding milk chocolate was associated with a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The British news agency (PA Media) reported that the researchers said that the relationship between eating chocolate and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is “controversial,” although they pointed out that most previous studies did not address the difference between types of chocolate.
The researchers added that types of chocolate (dark, milk, and white) vary in their levels of cocoa, sugar, and milk, and this “affects the relationship with the risk of type 2 diabetes.”
For this study, the research team used data from three long-running studies of nurses and health care workers in the United States.
An analysis of questionnaires on the frequency of eating, conducted every four years, examined the relationship between type 2 diabetes and chocolate intake in general in 192,28 people, and the type of dark or milk chocolate in 111,654 people.
The average period of observation was 25 years.
Regarding the group whose chocolate intake was analyzed, 18,862 people developed type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body does not use insulin well, leading to high blood sugar levels.
The researchers concluded that those who eat 28.3 grams of dark chocolate, at least 5 times a week, have a 10% lower chance of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to those who never or rarely eat chocolate.