Eating Dark Chocolate Can Prevent Diabetes: UK Research

Eating dark chocolate can help prevent diabetes. A new study has revealed that dark chocolate contains powerful compounds which can ward off one of the obesity's health complications.

Scientists have discovered that "superfoods" like dark chocolate, tea, berries and red wine are rich in flavonoids which can fight Type 2 diabetes. The study is published in the Journal of Nutrition.

Scientists studied 2,000 people who had high consumption of foods rich in flavonoids and found they had improved blood sugar regulation and lower resistance to insulin. According to the study on dark chocolate, flavonoids are mostly found in plant-based foods. Aside from dark chocolate, broccoli, apples, berries, kale and onions have high concentrations of flavonoids.

Researchers from the UEA and King's College in London have studied female volunteers from health research group TwinsUK who answered a food survey. Their blood samples were also analysed including insulin resistance.

University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School lead researcher Aedin Cassidy said that eating certain sub-groups of flavonoids can reduce inflammation associated with diabetes, obesity, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

One person dies from diabetes every six seconds, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The organisation reported diabetes affects 382 million people around the world and seeks help from celebrities and other influential personalities to raise awareness of this growing health problem.

The Brussels-based group recently released new figures and noted diabetes cases rose 4.4 per cent over the past two years. The number of cases is more than 5 per cent of the global population. The federation said the number of afflicted people may climb 55 per cent at 592 million by 2035.

A more sedentary lifestyle and poor diet often lead to obesity and diabetes as health complications. According to the federation, these factors can trigger the diabetes epidemic. The report said in 2009, the number of diabetes cases was 285 million.

The IDF said more help is needed as it estimated that 5.1 million die every year because of diabetes. An average of 10 million cases is also observed annually. Majority of the cases involved people aged between 40 and 59.