Cacao Found to Normalize Blood Sugar Levels, Researchers Report
According to a Japanese study reported in the journal Nutrition, blood sugar levels in obese, diabetic mice were significantly reduced when their diets were supplemented with an extract of cacao liquor.
The study’s authors wrote, “The dietary intake of food or drinks produced from cacao beans might be beneficial in preventing the onset of Type 2 diabetes.”
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the sugar-regulating hormone insulin has an effect on the body that is abnormal. When the body doesn’t produce enough insulin, the deficiency eventually causes type 1 diabetes. High blood sugar levels(hyperglycemia) can also occur.
Diabetes affects an estimated 7 percent of the U.S. population totaling close to 21 million people. What’s even more disturbing is that 6.2 million people remain undiagnosed and another 41 million are prediabetic, according to the American Diabetes Association.
During the study, the diets of obese, diabetic mice were supplemented with either 0, 0.5 or 1.0 percent cacao liquor proanthocyanidins (CLPr) – containing 72 percent polyphenols – over a three week period. The findings suggest that the dosage of CLPr was directly related to the reduction in blood sugar.
Proanthocyanidins are a type of a plant chemical called flavonoids, which have powerful antioxidant properties. Evidence that the risk of cardiovascular disease was reduced by eating chocolate rich in flavonoids has surfaced in earlier studies. The study being referred to here however, is the first to record blood sugar levels being affected by cacao chemicals.
The mice were given one percent of polyphenols, which is the equivalent of 5 grams per day to a human. A human being could achieve this amount by simply eating 2.5 kilograms of normal chocolate, or 100 grams of flavonol-rich chocolate.
Frank Mangano’s commentary:Â
It should be noted however, that eating sugar-filled chocolate could easily prohibit any benefits of the flavonoids in the cacao. So think twice before you head to the candy store for a Hershey bar. Whether you realize it or not, the type of chocolate that most stores carry is sweet because it is loaded with refined sugar.
What’s important in achieving the result outlined in the study above is to make sure you are consuming raw, unprocessed, unsweetened cacao. It may be very bitter in taste but it’s also highly medicinal. Anything else is a waste of time. Reach for the stars but stay away from Mars!
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- Antioxidant Shown to be Effective in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes, Study Concludes
 
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Posted: August 2nd, 2007 under cacao, chocolate.
