IT'S what chocoholics have claimed all along.
Chocolate, according to new research published today, can be good for you.
Chocolate and cocoa have been found to reduce the risk of heart disease in women with type 2 diabetes, claims a study by the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The 12-month trial, published in the journal Diabetes Care, found that regular consumption of flavonoid-rich foods such as chocolate, berries, tea and red wine, can help in the management of diabetes, which affects almost 200,000 people in Scotland.
Half of the women in the study were given two small bars of flavonoid-enriched chocolate, formulated with the help of a Belgian chocolatier, each day. The other half received placebo chocolate bars.
Women receiving the extra flavonoids reduced their risk of suffering a heart attack in the next decade by 3.4%. Their insulin resistance and cholesterol levels were also significantly reduced by the flavonoids.
Professor Aedin Cassidy of Norwich Medical School at UEA said: "These results are significant from a public health perspective because they provide further concrete evidence that diet has a beneficial clinical effect over and above conventional drug treatment."
However, Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, which funded the study, emphasised the results do not mean women with type 2 diabetes should eat more chocolate.
He stressed that commercially available chocolate does not contain nearly as much flavonoid as the women in this trial consumed, and eating too much can lead to weigh gain.
Previous studies have shown dietary flavonoids reduce the risk factors for heart disease in healthy people. However, this is the first long-term study to examine their effect on a medicated, high-risk group.
Dr Frame said: "It will be interesting to see whether larger studies of different flavonoids in more diverse populations over longer periods demonstrate similar effects."
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