ArticlesBase.com - Free Articles Directory
Free Online Articles Directory
15.10.2008 Sign In Register Hello Guest
Email:
Password:
Remember Me 
forgot your password?


Diabetic Friendly Chocolate Sweetened with Xylitol

Author: Jan Hrkach Author Ranking Blue | Posted: 27-02-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 15 | Rating:  (58) Article Popularity - Blue (?) Got a Question? Ask.
Related Videos
Healthy Appetite - Family Way

Ellie's shaking up breakfast with cookies everyone will love, adding pizzazz to...

In The Kitchen - Chocolate Meringue Hearts

Gwen Schoen invites Ettore Ravazzolo, from Ettore's European Bakery & Restaurant, to...

Learn about Easter chocolate Bunny

If you like eating an Easter chocolate bunny, you will enjoy this...

Sign Up Now!

Americans love chocolate. In fact, millions of us are admitted "chocoholics." U.S. chocolate consumption is around 3.3 billion pounds per year, according to the National Confectioners Association. That's nearly 12 pounds for every man, woman and child in the nation.

But for more than 21 million Americans with diabetes, forbidden treats - such as luscious dark chocolate truffles - are not part of a healthy diet. Many of us believe that sinfully sweet indulgences must be unhealthy, especially for diabetics. Or are they?

The good news is that recent clinical studies show some types of chocolates actually have significant health benefits. Dark chocolates, particularly those made with minimal processing, are high in flavonoids, which are plant compounds with potent antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are known to gobble up free radicals - the killer compounds that harm cell membranes, damage the heart, attack DNA, cause aging, and make heart attacks and cancer far more likely.

It may surprise you to know that dark chocolate actually has more antioxidants per gram than red wine, green tea, peanuts, cranberries, apples, and many other fruits and vegetables that also are rich in antioxidants.

One independent study led by Claudio Ferri and researchers at the University of L'Aquila in Italy found that consuming dark chocolate not only lowers blood pressure and cholesterol as some prior studies suggest, but also improves the body's processing of sugar - and in theory, guards against diabetes. Jeffrey B. Blumberg of Tufts University, who collaborated on the study, says "the new finding suggests that specific flavonoids have beneficial effects on several measures of health."

Dark chocolate contains more flavonoids and less saturated fat than milk chocolate. Cocoa powder and baking chocolate contain even more flavonoids than dark chocolate, while white chocolate has none. The flavonoids in chocolate, by the way, are called flavanols.

Ferri and his colleagues included dark chocolate bars in the diets of 10 volunteers with high blood pressure, and gave 10 others white chocolate bars with no flavanols. The subjects weren't obese, and none gained a significant amount of weight during the five-week study. The volunteers who consumed dark chocolate bars reduced both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, while those given white chocolate experienced no change.

In addition, the dark chocolate group demonstrated accelerated metabolism of blood sugar (glucose), a process that involves the hormone insulin. Impaired insulin function can lead to diabetes. Dark chocolate also lowered cholesterol in hypertensive patients, the researchers reported.

Additional benefits associated with dark chocolate in other studies include improved flexibility of the arteries, which can contribute to lower blood pressure, and reduced stickiness of clot-forming blood platelets, which may reduce the risk of strokes and other problems.

Another study, at the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, tested the effects of dark chocolate vs. white chocolate on artery hardening and heart disease in smokers. The study's authors concluded that "...only a small daily treat of dark chocolate may substantially increase the amount of antioxidant intake and beneficially affect vascular health."

Another study done at the University Hospital of Cologne and published in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) concluded that consumption of small amounts of dark chocolate was "associated with a lowering of blood pressure, without weight gain or other adverse effects."

"Chocolate is a very remarkable substance with enormously beneficial health properties," says Keith Scott-Mumby, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized expert in diet and nutrition who formulated The Doctor's Chocolate. His delicious dark chocolate truffles, made with the finest unaltered Swiss dark chocolate and red raspberries, contain zero trans fats and very low total fat. Sweetened by Xylitol, a sugar alcohol that is recognized by the FDA as very safe, each truffle has only 20 calories. "It's totally safe for diabetics," Dr. Scott-Mumby says.

Rate this Article: Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/diabetic-friendly-chocolate-sweetened-with-xylitol-343701.html

Print this Article Print article   Email to a Friend Send to friend   Publish this Article on your Website Publish this Article   Send Author Feedback Author feedback  
About the Author:

Jan Hrkach is an advocate of health, you are what you eat. Exercise and eating right make a big difference in our daily lives and creates a better you. http://www.thedoctorschocolate.com/

Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free!

Article Comments

Comment on this article Comment on this article
Your Name
Your Email:
Comment Body
Enter Validation Code: Captcha


Got a Question? Ask.

Ask the community a question about this article:

Q&A Powered by:
Powered by Yedda 

Latest Nutrition Articles

Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days – Quick and Easy
By: Jo Mark | 15/10/2008
Discover how to quickly and easily lose 10 pounds in 10 days.

Stay Healthy by Eating Chocolate
By: Susan Patterson | 15/10/2008
Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants and healthy fat that may help you ward off heart disease, high blood pressure and other ailments. It is still a high calorie food, so it is important to use in moderation only. Learn what dark chocolate can do for your health here.

How Can I Achieve Easy Weight Loss?
By: Boris Tomson | 15/10/2008
Currently, there isn't a 100 percent guaranteed easy weight loss system available and there may never be; good programs are out there that can make a difference, as many dieticians will tell you.

Everything You to Know About Losing 30 Pounds in 30 Days
By: Boris Tomson | 15/10/2008
Is there really one best way to lose weight fast? When I say fast, I mean 30 pounds in 30 days. Short term rapid weight loss. A diet you would stay on for under 6 weeks or so.

Strip That Fat Preview
By: Boris Tomson | 15/10/2008
Hey, my name is Michelle and in this article I am going to talk about a weight loss product called strip that fat.

Should I Use a Natural Weight Loss Pill?
By: Boris Tomson | 15/10/2008
If you are wondering why anyone would consider using a natural weight loss pill or even just read a weight loss pill review, you obviously have not heard about the rate of obesity and how it has skyrocketed lately, especially the past couple of years in particular.

Weight Loss Plans Free for the Taking
By: Boris Tomson | 15/10/2008
On the internet you will find plenty of weight loss plans free that you can use. However, what you may well discover is that not all of them will assist you in trying to achieve your weight loss goals.

How to Chose a Weight Loss Plan
By: Boris Tomson | 15/10/2008
In the developed countries the weight loss industry is booming as obesity soars. As such there are many weight loss plans that are entering the market with the aim of providing us a weight loss solution.

More from Jan Hrkach

Building Strength and Muscle Without Illegal Substances
By: Jan Hrkach | 04/04/2008 | Muscle Building
According to studies and research, using anabolic steroids merely inflates your muscles (hence the term "juiced") and does not provide permanent results. There are also several harmful side effects of steroids.

Dark Chocolate Helps In Weight Loss
By: Jan Hrkach | 04/02/2008 | Wellness
Antioxidant-rich Dark Chocolate Helps in Weight Loss. Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby, an internationally recognized expert in the field of alternative medicine focusing on diet and nutrition he feels the proper dark chocolate should be a part of our daily diet.

Article Categories






Give Feedback

Sign up for our email newsletter

Receive updates, enter your email below