Dark chocolate may be effective in preventing type 2 diabetes: "Five pieces a week could reduce risk by 20%"

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

ダークチョコに２型糖尿病予防の効果か　「週５片でリスク２割減」

2024.12.06 Fri posted at 17:34 JST

（ＣＮＮ） ダークチョコレートのかけらを週に５個以上食べれば、生活習慣病とされる２型糖尿病のリスクが２１％低減するとの研究結果が報告された。

米ハーバード公衆衛生大学院の博士課程で栄養学を研究する学生らのチームが４日、英医学誌ＢＭＵに発表した。チームは白人の成人から４年ごとに２５年間、食生活のアンケートを取った大規模な観察研究を基に、チョコ好きの１１万１０００人がダークチョコ、ミルクチョコをどのくらい食べていたかを調べた。

食事や生活習慣の要因を調整した結果、１オンス（約２８グラム）のチョコを週に５回以上食べていたグループは、残りのグループに比べて２型糖尿病にかかるリスクが１０％低いことが分かった。

さらにチョコの種類別に調べたところ、ミルクチョコを食べるグループは糖尿病リスクに変化がなく、長期的な体重増加がみられたのに対し、ダークチョコを食べるグループではリスクが２１％も下がったうえ、体重は増えていなかったという。

ダークチョコはミルクチョコに比べ、カカオの含有率が高い。カカオには抗酸化物質のフラボノイドが多く含まれ、これが糖尿病予防の効果をもたらしている可能性がある。

ただし専門家によれば、チョコには砂糖が入っていて、血糖値への影響が懸念される。最近の研究では、カカオを原料とする食品に重金属の鉛とカドミウムが含まれていると報告された。また昨年１２月の大規模な研究では、カカオの摂取で糖尿病のリスクは下がらないとの結果が出た。

とはいえ、研究チームの責任者は「チョコが好きな人ならば、ミルクでなくダークにするなどのちょっとした選択で健康への効果が期待できる」と話している。

Translation

Dark chocolate may be effective in preventing type 2 diabetes: "Five pieces a week could reduce risk by 20%"

 (CNN) Research results had been reported that eating five or more pieces of dark chocolate a week could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes which was a lifestyle-related disease by 21%.

A team of doctoral students studying nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health announced their findings in the British medical journal BMU on the 4th. Based on a large-scale observational study in which white adults were surveyed about their diet every four years for 25 years, the team investigated how much dark and milk chocolate the 111,000 chocolate lovers had eaten.

After adjusting for dietary and lifestyle factors, the group that ate one ounce (about 28 grams) of chocolate five or more times a week was found to have a 10% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to other groups.

Furthermore, when the type of chocolate was examined, the group that ate milk chocolate did not change their risk of diabetes and experienced long-term weight gain, while the group that ate dark chocolate saw a 21% reduction in risk and no weight gain.

Dark chocolate had a higher cacao content than milk chocolate. Cacao contained a lot of flavonoids, an antioxidant, which might have a preventive effect on diabetes.

However, experts said that chocolate contained sugar, which raised concerns about its effect on blood sugar levels. Recent studies had reported that foods made from cacao contain the heavy metals lead and cadmium. A large-scale study in December last year also found that consuming cacao did not reduce the risk of diabetes.

However, the head of the research team said, "If you like chocolate, you can expect health benefits by making small choices such as choosing dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate."

              So, according to this report, dark chocolate has a higher cacao content than milk chocolate. Cacao contains a lot of flavonoids, an antioxidant, which may have a preventive effect on diabetes. It seems that if you must buy chocolate, it is better to eat dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate for health reasons.

Note:

Flavonoids come from fruits, vegetables, tea, wine, seeds or roots. Although they are not considered vitamins, they are considered to have nutritional functions in biological reactions and were once called "vitamin P": for example, they have antioxidant or anti-inflammatory effects. It is also thought to resist or slow down the formation of tumors. Cocoa, especially some dark chocolate, contains the flavonoid epicatechin, whose antioxidant capacity is 2-3 times that of red wine or green tea. (Wikipedia)