Cocoa Helps Diabetics: Recent Studies By Mars Inc.

Good news for diabetics who have a sweet tooth. Eating chocolates could be recommended by your doctors now, as studies reveal that an enriched hot cocoa beverage can improve blood circulation for people with type 2 diabetesdefine.

Mars Inc heading this research has set up a scientific division called Symbioscience with researchers from Germany. Harold Schmitz, chief science officer of Mars, states that the research is the first of its kind in terms of rigor and population study.

It is already known that chocolate and cocoa contain a high level of flavonoids, especially epicatechin which has beneficial cardiovascular effects on the health. It must be noted that this refers to plain cocoa and dark chocolate. Milk chocolate's addition reduces the overall cocoa content per ounce while increasing saturated fat levels, possibly negating some of cocoa's heart-healthy potential benefits.

Nevertheless, studies have still found short term benefits in LDL, cholesterol levels from dark chocolate consumption.

Harvard Medical School studied the effects of cocoa and flavanols on Panama's Kuna Indian population, who are heavy consumers of cocoa. The researchers found that the Kuna Indians living on the islands had significantly lower rates of heart disease and cancerdefine compared to those on the mainland who unlike the islanders do not drink cocoa.

It is believed that the improved blood flow after consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa may help to achieve health benefits in heart and other organs. In particular, the benefits may extend to the brain and have important implications for learning and memory.

According to an analysis published research in April 2007 in the issue of Archives of Internal Medicine,food rich in cocoa appears to reduce blood pressure but drinking green and black tea may not.

In this study 41 adults with type 2 diabetesdefine were assigned to drink cocoa with either 321 milligrams or 25 milligrams of flavanols per serving,three times a day for 30 days. Flavanols are natural compounds found in fruits, vegetables and chocolates which are believed to improve blood flow. They also help relax the arteries with the production of nitric oxide.

The researchers tested the participants for flow mediated dilation, which is the ability of the arteries to expand in response to the body’s demand for more blood and oxygen. It was seen that there was a change in the brachial arterydefine in the upper arms of the participants, which expanded from 3.3 percent to 5.8 percent when the beverage was drunk. This is a distinct 30% improvement in vasculardefine function.

Ideally, the researchers wished to study the separate effect of individual flavanols. From the nutrition point of view, this study is criticized on the basis of the caloric content of cocoa. Consuming cocoa would add at least 170 extra calories. Patients would need to cut out on some other source of calorie to prevent weight gain.

Studies need to be done to substantiate the findings. The next step is to study the beneficiary effects of flavanol enriched beverages for diabetics.

Here, Mars plays an important role. The company has been sponsoring research on the health benefits of chocolate products for years. Schmitz states that over a 100 peer reviewed papers have been published.

Of course, the commercial possibilities are not being overlooked. Symbioscience has been working on a number of products which are in the pipeline.

The bottom line of this research is the findings of cocoa which helps the health and at the same time gives pleasure. Everyone knows cocoa increases the amount of endorphinsdefine, the feel good chemicals that triggers happiness. So go ahead. Indulge!