Can Eating Chocolate Actually Prevent Diabetes?

It seems to go against everything you’ve been told, but eating more chocolate–as long as it’s dark chocolate–can actually prevent diabetes.

There is little worse for diabetes than sweets. But real dark chocolate isn’t sweet. The flavonoids in it make it bitter. And flavonoids are great for diabetes.

Several meta-analyses have shown that dark chocolate improves insulin resistance (Am J Clin Nutr. 2012;95:740-51; J Nutr 2011;141:1982-1988; J Nutr. 2016;146(11):2325-2333).

But much of the research on chocolate and diabetes has been muddied by the failure to distinguish between milk chocolate and dark chocolate. That’s what this huge new study of over 100,000 people did.

And the good news is that it found that people who eat 5 or more servings of dark chocolate a week have a significant 21% lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared to people who never or rarely eat dark chocolate. Each serving of dark chocolate a week reduced the risk by a significant 3%. Milk chocolate, on the other hand, did not significantly reduce the risk.

Pleasantly shattering another myth, while eating more milk chocolate increased weight gain, eating more dark chocolate did not cause any weight gain.

This study shows that, as long as your chocolate is dark chocolate, eating more of it actually prevents diabetes without causing any weight gain.

BMJ 2024;387:e078386.

 

The Heart Herb That’s Good For Your Skin

You knew this herb is great for your heart. But did you know it is good for your skin? Here’s a new way to reduce wrinkles.

Hawthorn is famous as the great heart herb. But this new study tested it out for your skin.

The double-blind study gave either a placebo or 900mg a day of hawthorn fruit powder to 41 males and females who were between the ages of 25 and 75.

At the end of the six month study, skin hydration was worse in the placebo group but significantly better in the hawthorn group. The hawthorn group also had reduced wrinkles, while the placebo group’s wrinkles got worse.

This study suggests that hawthorn may have anti-aging effects on the skin, improving hydration and reducing wrinkles.

Nutrients. 2025;17(12):1983.

 

Green Tea Helps Depression After Menopause

More frequent or more severe depression may come with menopause.

This new study of 386 women found that women who have drunk at least one cup (500mL) of green tea at least 6 days a week for the last 20 years were significantly less likely to experience insomnia or depression.

Nutrients. October 2023;15(21):4514.

 

Could This Herb Help People With Parkinson’s?

The drug levodopa is the foundation for the conventional treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Surprisingly, this bean is a natural source of levodopa.

A diet rich in legumes is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s (Neurology.1996; 46:1270-74). Fava beans actually contain L-dopa; in fact, L-dopa was originally discovered in fava beans. Eating 250mg of cooked fava beans improves motor performance in people with Parkinson’s (Adv Neurol. 1993;60:681-84).

Another bean, Mucuna pruriens, of velvet bean, is also a natural source of levodopa. Now, a new single-blind study has compared velvet bean to the drug levodopa (L-dopa).

The drug levodopa can cause motor complications. This small study gave 12 people who have Parkinson’s with motor complications either the drug levodopa or 30g of Mucuna pruriens powder.

The ones taking the velvet bean went significantly longer without involuntary muscle movements: 232.2 minutes versus 161.8.

This study concludes that velvet bean may be “a promising alternative to synthetic levodopa for managing motor symptoms” in people with Parkinson’s disease.

J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2025 Mar 26. doi:10.1007/s00702-025-02914-2.