This is the main conclusion of the latest study carried out by the Institute of Science and Technology of Food and Nutrition of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), the Complutense University of Madrid and the Center for Biomedical Research in Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Network Associates of the Carlos III Health Institute (Spain). And it is that cocoa, a food rich in bioactive compounds such as flavanols with a large number of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties , has been shown to slow down the progression of type 2 diabetes by slowing the loss of mass and function of the beta cells of the pancreas.
To reach these results, the researchers carried out several experiments with laboratory mice (specifically murines) that were fed a diet rich in cocoa during the prediabetic stage, observing a decrease in their levels of hyperglycemia, an improvement in insulin sensitivity and a slowing of the loss of mass and function of pancreatic beta cells. In addition, thanks to the cocoa treatment, the mice showed an increase in the activity of the antioxidant defenses of the pancreas , which led to an improvement in the situation of oxidative stress and cell death so characteristic of the prediabetic state.
This is the first time that the potential antidiabetic effect of cocoa has been verified in a live animal: “ These results show for the first time in an in vivo animal model that cocoa could protect against the loss of function and mass of beta cells of the pancreas that occurs in type 2 diabetes and therefore slows down the progression of the disease ”, explains María Ángeles Martín, leader of the study, to the Sinc agency.
The study on this disease, which affects more than 5 million people in Spain , has been published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research .
