Is Dark Chocolate Good for Diabetics? | Why Dark Chocolate Rocks!

What is the mystery of how dark chocolate can help fight diabetes?  Dark chocolate contains natural compounds known as polyphenols that are occurring and and have antioxidant properties. But Is Dark Chocolate Good for Diabetics? There are molecules that are harmful and these polyphenols help protect your body from damage. Let’s explore:

Can Diabetics Eat Dark Chocolate?

Just to be clear from the start? This is only for dark chocolate, not milk chocolate. Darn, because I love milk chocolate. And we’ll look into the details and benefits of dark chocolate and what it does for lowering blood sugar levels.

Dark Chocolate Bars

Why are polyphenols so important? The reason is because they can improve sensitivity to insulin and has affects on just how well insulin can work in your body. Therefore, the result is controlling your blood sugar.

Now if you have been eating dark chocolate, this improved event of insulin sensitivity could possibly even delay or prevent the beginning of diabetes.

There were studies done showing the folks who consumed dark chocolate at least one time a week had a less occurrence of diabetes and were actually at a much lower risk of developing diabetes five years down the road. You don’t want to go down this road.

In a study of 1,000 people who did not have diabetes and 50 people who actually had diabetes, the results were that folks who had who ate dark chocolate less than one time a week, were more than TWO times less at risk for developing diabetes than the others who had it at least once a week. I say go for it. Just don’t overdo it.

Not Just Any Dark Chocolate

It’s important to know that you shouldn’t just have any dark chocolate. You’re should be looking for chocolate that is rich in polyphenol, has the highest amount of cocoa, and contains antioxidants because you will get more health benefits. If you want something that is also really important for reversing your diabetes, find it in the conclusion of this article. It’s worth it.

I always say with anything you buy to read the labels first. I can’t stress this enough. It’s very helpful to know what the ingredients are in a product. You want to get the most out of what you’re buying. The dark chocolate you’re looking for should have the same amount of fiber as sugar.

Choose the chocolate that hasn’t been processed to make the cocoa with less of a bitter taste. (Process known as alkali). The reason for this is the process removes any health benefits in the chocolate.

Dark Chocolate, Yum! But Hold on Now, Slow Down!

Woman eating dark chocolate

I always liked milk chocolate better, but dark chocolate is still good! But hold on a second. This doesn’t mean to gorge yourself. This is about not gaining weight and ingesting too much sugar. There are calories and sugar in chocolate so you have to be careful and only have it in moderation.

You should only have one or two squares and not overdo it. Dark chocolate in moderation is beneficial for diabetes and blood sugar. Too much is harmful.

Now even if you don’t have diabetes and don’t have a weight problem, you can probably indulge a bit more but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be at risk for obesity and diabetes at some point if you are constantly overdoing it. Easy does it.

What is it About Chocolate Anyway?

Well the answer is that it tastes so good! When you were a kid, didn’t you always want and eat chocolate? Of course we all did. What was your favorite holiday after Christmas? HALLOWEEN! What a great holiday for a kid! I used to go out a second time to get my bag filled up and guess what my favorite was? Chocolate of course!

Okay, the dentist made money off my parents from the candy I ate, but it was worth it for me. Actually back then almost any candy would do, but I always went for the chocolate first. Chocolate and sugar are addicting. Back to today, only dark chocolate and in moderate amounts are allowed as far as I’m concerned. Now I and many others, pay the price of trying to lose weight and control diabetes.

Watch the Video Below

to Learn More About Chocolate for Diabetics

Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

Blood Pressure

It lowers your blood pressure, but at the same time can aid in reducing your sensitivity to insulin. A study done between people who had white chocolate and people who had dark chocolate showed the dark chocolate reduced the blood pressure and insulin sensitivity too of the folks who had the dark chocolate and not the white chocolate.

The reason is white chocolate is made from cocoa butter and does not contain the antioxidant properties that dark chocolate does.

Protects LDL Against Oxidation & Raises HDL

The cocoa powder found in dark chocolate resulted in decreasing LDL levels significantly in men. In addition, it lowered LDL elevated cholesterol levels and at the same time increased HDL levels.

Protection Against the Sun

Dark chocolate contains bioactive compounds that are excellent for your skin. Improved flow of blood to your skin, increasing the hydration of your skin and its density, and protection against sun damage can all be related to the flavonols in dark chocolate.

Diabetes & Dark Chocolate

The cocoa and its flavanoids work to fight insulin resistance and one of the important things here to remember is the higher the percentage age of dark chocolate the more health benefits you will get from it.

You can help lower your blood sugar levels because the cacao it contains boosts the sensitivity to insulin. But if you’re looking to prevent diabetes in the first place, you’ll want only low sugar dark chocolate.

Function of Your Brain

A high consumption of dark chocolate that is of high quality results in the improvements in your brain of scanning, virtual awareness, working memory, and better reasoning. When studies were done with intelligence, it was found that intelligence measured was increased after eating dark chocolate.

Benefits Your Immune System

Dark chocolate is excellent for your immune system with its powerful antioxidants. The cocoa in dark chocolate helps regulate the response of the inflammation of your immune system. Inflammation then sparks your tissues response to the enemies such as wounds, chemicals, infections, and various pathogens.

Anti-inflammatory properties and flavonoids work together to aid your immune system and dark chocolate is loaded with them.

Regular consumption of chocolate is healthy because the antibodies from cocoa can effectively fight disease and bacteria. Remember, regular consumption does not mean to eat a giant bar of dark chocolate each day. M-o-d-e-r-a-t-i-o-n.

Boosting Your Happiness 

First of all, who wouldn’t be happy by having more dark chocolate everyday? Most of us would love this snack or treat and it’s an added benefit that it actually will boost your emotions. It tastes great and is healthy but the most beneficial dark chocolate to decrease your anxiety and stress levels is the unsweetened kind.

The caffeine it contains also is a mood booster but the levels of caffeine compared to coffee aren’t even close so you won’t have to be concerned about being wired and flipping out.

Blood Flow

The flavanols in chocolate and cocoa can help improve the blood flow to your heart and to your brain. These flavanols are awesome because they can help to lower your blood pressure and relax your blood vessels by stimulating your arteries with nitric oxide. Just a little bit of chocolate will do because you will only get results with your blood pressure if it isn’t too high.

Lots of Minerals

It’s amazing how many minerals are in one ounce of dark chocolate. It contains potassium (6 percent), magnesium (16 percent), zinc (6 percent), calcium (2 percent), copper (25 percent), and iron (19 percent). In addition it also has phosphorous and selenium. This gives you enough of these daily recommended minerals.

Fights Cavities

Your dentist may not be too happy because you may not be visiting as much, but it would make you and I happier, right? Dark chocolate actually helps fight tooth decay and cavities. How is this so? Dark chocolate actually contains something called theobromine.

According to wikipedia it is defined as: a bitter alkaloid of the cacao plant, found in chocolate, as well as a number of other foods, including the leaves of the tea plant and the cola nut. This is know to help harden your tooth enamel.

This may be hard to imagine but the more cacao contained the better. The chocolates with lower percentages of cacao have more sugar and that of course will promote tooth decay.

Asthma 

This may be something that can really help you or a loved one with when it comes to asthma. Chocolate contains components that are natural: caffeine, and as just mentioned above theobromine. They work side by side to open up closed bronchial passages. It also is beneficial in treating your cough by helping to suppress it.

Possible Side Effects

Kidney Stones

Dark chocolate has a component that is fairly common in a number of animals and plants called oxalates. According to dictionary.com oxalates are defined as: any salt or ester of oxalic acid, that is found in plants, specifically rhubarb, spinach, nuts and other vegetables and is capable of interfering with its absorption by the body and forming an insoluble salt with calcium.

These may increase your risk of kidney stones. If you are prone to getting kidney stones, I suggest staying away from dark chocolate then.

Migraine Headaches

This may not be a deal breaker for you. There could be a connection between some people and migraines, but there are some who aren’t affected at all. If you get migraines frequently, you may want to at least cut back on dark chocolate.

The bottom line is to always check with your doctor as I always say because they are the professionals and they know you and your body as well. Remember, the key here with dark chocolate is moderation and knowledge along with common sense.

Final Thoughts

Is Dark Chocolate Good for Diabetics? Yes, it is! Anything that is beneficial for your health, you should consider. If you like to eat it, then have your dark chocolate and diabetes will be helped by lowering your glucose. With diabetes, high sugar levels are the last thing you want.

So have dark chocolate, but make sure it’s unsweetened. Read the labels and nutrition facts. Eat smart. Do not overdo it because it still contains sugar!

 

 

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Home » Dieting » Is Dark Chocolate Good for Diabetics? | Why Dark Chocolate Rocks!

Rob Sciubba

Rob Sciubba - Founder of NaturalWaystoLowerBloodSugar.com

Rob is an blogger who has type 2 diabetes and wants to spread the word treating diabetes. For the past 3 years he has provided valuable information about diabetes and lowering blood sugars and continues to offer additional ways to treat diabetes.

If you’re serious about treating your diabetes and lowering your blood sugars the natural ways, then you will learn from his website.

10 thoughts on “Is Dark Chocolate Good for Diabetics? | Why Dark Chocolate Rocks!”

  1. Wow great article! it makes me want to go get some dark chocolate now! I always knew that dark chocolate was much better for you. Most dark brown foods are much better for you like rice and pasta. However, I never knew there were so many benefits to dark chocolate! I wish I knew this earlier and as a child only eaten dark chocolate As it stands, I prefer milk chocolate but I will try ween myself off of it.

    Reply
    • Hey Deano,

      I hear ya! Who doesn’t love chocolate? The problem is that it is addicting and as good as it is for us, we still have to monitor how much because too much isn’t good especially if it has sugar in it. I agree with you. I like milk chocolate better but I’ll take the dark chocolate! Thanks for commenting!

      Reply
  2. Good evening Rob,

    Oh dear me, a website about dark chocolate. Dark chocolate? I absolutely love dark chocolate and eat it every day. I take care it is more than 80% cacao and of good quality to get all the health benefits which are in this treat. There are many people in this world who love to eat chocolate but are not informed about the health benefits of the dark variety and therefore your website is so important. I have seen on your site that you write about many more health-related things. These modern times make it difficult to remain health conscious as temptations are everywhere. To be informed is the first step to reach a ripe old age.

    Regards, Taetske

    Reply
    • Thank you Taetske! Isn’t it great that something such as chocolate (at least dark chocolate) can be good for you?

      I love the fact that dark chocolate tastes so good and is very health related for us. I think that most people love chocolate and and long as you know the limits, it’s perfectly good to eat.

      As I stated, we must know our limits and if you’re a diabetic, you’re better off with sugar free dark chocolate or at least have dark chocolate in moderate amounts. Here’s to chocolate! Thanks for your comments!

      Cheers!

      ~Rob

      Reply
  3. Good Morning Rob,

    Thank you for replying to my comment. Just one little thing. If eating sugar-free dark chocolate sadly there are unhealthy sweeteners included. One has to take care not to eat Aspartame and even with Stevia one has to know which one to buy. The more informed one is the better.

    Regards, Taetske

    Reply
    • Hey Taetske, yes I always tell folks that they should always read labels on any products first. It’s important to know what the ingredients are before you purchase something.Good point. Thanks!

      Reply
  4. Hi, Rob,

    Great article!
    I knew that dark chocolate is much healthier than brown or white chocolate, but what I wasn’t aware of is that it offers so many benefits! After reading your article, I will definitely go to the supermarket and buy some. Is it easy to find unsweetened dark chocolate in shops?
    Also, is there a possibility to sweetened the dark chocolate with healthy ingredients?

    Thank you for this excellent post!

    Reply
    • Hey Daniella,

      I was always a milk chocolate lover. I liked dark chocolate too, but if I had the choice, I would have chosen the milk chocolate. Not any more though. Now that I know what benefits dark chocolate has, that’s my choice. It is a great choice especially if you’re a diabetic. I still opt for the unsweetened or sugar free dark chocolate. I’m not sure about sweetening the dark chocolate with healthy ingredients but I wouldn’t see why not. I buy unsweetened or sugar free chocolate in Walmart. Thanks Daniella!

      Reply
  5. DAMN, I had no idea that dark chocolate had so many benefits to eating it. I’m blown away by the number of things that it does. The hardening of tooth enamel is particularly amusing because it would seem like eating chocolate would create cavities, so that’s enlightening.
    I appreciate the research you did in putting together all the benefits of dark chocolate. I think the only thing I worry about is the calories, but I guess once a week is not something that would really affect your calorie intake. Thanks for all the information.

    Reply
    • I’m not sure that many people know the true benefits of dark chocolate. But it’s pretty amazing that something that tastes so good can be beneficial for your health. And yes the calories and sugar are a concern which is why key is moderation. Thank you for your comments!

      Cheers!

      ~Rob

      Reply

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