Natural cocoa can protect against type 2 diabetes

Cocoa can help people with diabetes to better manage their condition?
Physicians have long been looking for ways and means to better control type 2 diabetes or even completely prevent the disease. Researchers have now discovered that certain compounds in cocoa protect against type 2 diabetes.

Researchers at Brigham Young University found that cocoa helps the body release more insulin and more effectively respond to elevated blood sugar. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry".

Some foods like chocolate contain a lot of cocoa. Physicians found that certain compounds in cocoa can protect against type 2 diabetes. (Image: hiphoto39 - fotolia)

Cocoa unfortunately contains a lot of sugar
Insulin is the hormone that manages our blood sugar. The blood sugar reaches unhealthy heights in diabetes, explain the experts. Can cocoa really help control blood sugar better? People would probably have to eat a lot of cocoa and this unfortunately also contains a lot of sugar, explains author Professor Jeffery Tessem.

Epicatechin monomers protect and enhance the beta cells
When a person has diabetes, the body either does not produce enough insulin or does not process the blood sugar properly. The root of the problem is that the so-called beta-cells, whose job is the production of insulin, fail, explain the physicians. The scientists found in their study that beta cells work better and are strengthened in the long term when there is an increased presence of epicatechin monomers, these compounds occur naturally in cocoa.

Epicatechin monomers make beta cells work better
The researchers fed the special compounds of cocoa in their experiment on animals with a low-fat diet. The physicians found that the compounds reduced the level of obesity in the animals and improved their ability to deal with high blood sugar levels. The experts at Brigham Young University then continued to investigate what exactly happened at the cellular level, especially beta cells. The compounds in cocoa called epicatechin monomers improved the ability of beta cells to secrete insulin.

Cocoa protects cells better from oxidative stress
The compounds in cocoa protect cells and increase their ability to cope with oxidative stress, explains author Professor Tessem. The epicatechin monomers make the mitochondria stronger in the beta cells. This will produce more ATP, resulting in more insulin being released, the expert adds in a press release.

Epicatechin monomers protect most effectively from type 2 diabetes
While there has been much research on similar compounds over the past decade, so far no one has been able to find out which compounds are most beneficial or how exactly they produce a positive benefit, the researchers explain. The current research has now shown that the epicatechin monomers are the most effective at protecting against type 2 diabetes.

Further research is needed
The results of the study may help in the future, that these compounds in food or supplements contribute to a more effective control of blood sugar. Thus, the onset of type 2 diabetes can be delayed or even completely prevented, explains the author Professor Andrew Neilson. Physicians must now look for ways to use the compounds from cocoa as a potential treatment for patients with diabetes. (As)