Dr Amir lists diabetes symptoms When it comes to our diets there are certain foods many of us will try to avoid for health or weight-related reasons. Chocolate is one such food, being high in sugar and fat. However, new research suggests that eating dark chocolate could actually provide some unexpected health benefits.
A study, published in Food Bioscience journal, found that a type of chemical naturally occurring in many plant-based foods could lower the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. This chemical, known as polyphenols, is bitter in taste and can be found in cocoa - with the highest levels of polyphenols usually found in dark chocolate compared to milk. Polyphenols interact with the bitter taste receptors on the tongue, known as the type 2 taste receptors (TR2).
READ MORE Woman ignored these symptoms for a year and was hit with cancer diagnosis A new study found that polyphenols found in dark chocolate could lower the risk of diabetes (Image: Getty) Now researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan have found that polyphenol-caused activation of T2R in the gastrointestinal tract causes the secretion of hormones that may help lower a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes and obesity. More specifically, the scientists discovered that polyphenol-caused activation of T2R in the gastrointestinal tract causes the secretion of gastrointestinal hormones including cholecystokinin (CCK) and incretins like GLP-1. Both CCK and GLP-1 are known to help decrease.