Does chocolate raise blood sugar?

According to research made known to the general public, chocolate helps prevent cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and can bring us more than 70 other benefits to our health. But we are not talking about all chocolates, special care must be taken in the choice, since the most recommended is dark and organic chocolate.

Chocolate is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyed foods on the planet, and it has one of the oldest documented histories of use dating back to 1100 BC. And yet many still associate it with "sweetness" and it has never been exposed. to research indicating that it may actually be closer to being a "medicine."

Healing properties of chocolate

Now, new research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has shown that the consumption of chocolate, or its active components (cocoa, flavan-3-ols), reduces a wide range of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including insulin resistance.

Benefits for treating diabetes

The researchers analyzed 42 acute and long-term toxicity studies and found a 33% reduction in insulin resistance from the mean after chocolate consumption.

What is so special about this new study, is that chocolate consumption is believed to contribute to raising blood sugar, it is not only disproving this myth, but sheds light on why chocolate consumption (especially dark, organic) may be beneficial in treating both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Beneficial for heart health

This comes from more than a decade of research showing that chocolate and cocoa lower blood pressure, prevent or improve endothelial dysfunction (the main contributor to atherosclerosis), protect against coronary artery disease, reduce blood pressure, risk of stroke, prevents oxidation of cholesterol (which converts healthy lipoproteins into artherogenic ones), to name just 5 of 70+ potential health benefits associated with its regular consumption.

Any serious discussion about the medicinal properties of chocolate must be qualified by pointing out that chocolate is often unfairly attacked, and has even been linked to poor health in children. Organic cocoa can also contain residues of the dangerous herbicide glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup), among many other biocides used in conventional agriculture, so the consumer must take special care to avoid these moral and physiological pitfalls.

Also, because chocolate has complex pharmacologically active properties, it should be consumed in moderation, and with attention to the tendency to use it to self-medicate, especially when the cocoa content is lower and the sugar content present in the chocolate is higher...