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Monday, November 1, 2010

More dark chocolate benefits - higher HDL in diabetics

OK, on the subject of dark chocolate my blog entries are getting to sound like a broken record (anyone out there know what a record is? NOT like breaking the record in the Guiness Book of World....)

So here's another study showing its benefits. Investigators randomized 12 patients with diabetes to eat 45 grams (a total of about an ounce and a half) of very dark chocolate (85% cocoa solids) daily or a similar amount of chocolate without the cocoa solids or polyphenols present. dyed to the same color. Patients who ate the real dark chocolate had better HDL levels and therefore better total/HDL cholesterol ratios.

People in the group that ate real chocolate did not gain weight and did not ingest more calories, because the chocolate generally resulted in their eating less snack food and eating less at the next meal than those who ate the "placebo" chocolate. They also had equivalent blood sugar and glycosylated hemoglobin levels.

This study had a small sample, but if it is repeated and borne out, it should mean that we don't have to advise our diabetic patients to stay away from anything sweet and yummy.

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