Chocolate and diabetes: unlikely friends?

Diabetics, and people suffering from pre-diabetes, traditionally have to be extremely careful with chocolate. High in sugar, fattening and unhealthy, it has never previously been perceived as being a useful agent in the fight against diabetes. However, a recent study has surprisingly linked chocolate with reducing the risk of diabetes.
Unfortunately, the benefits do not occur from all chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate may be ruled out. But plai, dark chocolate contains a high density of chemicals called flavanols. Flavanols are useful in fighting the early stages of diabetes development, according to the Italian team who carried out the research.
Flavanols have also been praised in previous studies of this nature for carrying many potential health benefits. They are also found in some tea, wines and fruits. Although the exact process has not been uncovered, flavanols may possibly protect cells against damage. Type 1 diabetes, that occurs when the immune system attacks insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas, could therefore be slowed by the presence of stronger cells.
The study took place in Italy at the University L’Aquila, and compared white with dark chocolate, and involved 15 healthy volunteers. Blood samples from the volunteers were checked for insulin resistance after varying chocolate intake over the course of 37 days.
Insulin resistance was found to be significantly lower following the consumption of dark chocolate as opposed to white chocolate.
The results, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, show that insulin resistance was significantly lower when the volunteers ate dark chocolate rather than white chocolate. Eating a healthy diet has never included chocolate as a component, until now.