Chocolate intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort studies
Main finding · Incident T2D, total chocolateResult — go to the resultLower rate of T2D 10% 95% CI 2%–17%Authors' conclusion
Increased consumption of dark, but not milk, chocolate was associated with lower risk of T2D. Increased consumption of milk, but not dark, chocolate was associated with long term weight gain. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to replicate these findings and further explore the mechanisms.
Study context
- Population
- Participants without T2D, CVD or cancer in Nurses' Health Study (NHS) (1986–2018), NHSII (1991–2021) and HPFS (1986–2020)total chocolate analyses
- Participants
- 192,208 participants
- Exposure
- ≥5 servings/week of chocolate vs never or rarely
- Outcome
- Self-reported incident T2D, confirmed by validated supplementary questionnaire
Methodological detailsthree US cohorts
- Three US cohorts
Main finding
Incident T2D, total chocolate
Lower rate of T2D
10%
95% CI 2%–17%
P = 0.07 for trend
As reported in the abstract
- Incident T2D cases
- 18 862
- Person years of follow-up
- 4 829 175
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | Estimate | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Incident T2D, dark chocolate ≥5 servings/week | lower risk of T2D 21% (CI 5%–34%) | P for trend = 0.006 |
| Dose-response, dark chocolate and T2DLinear dose-response by spline regression | risk reduction 3% (CI 1%–5%) | P for linearity=0.003 |
- Incident T2D, dark chocolate ≥5 servings/week — Incident T2D cases in subtype analyses
- 4771
- Incident T2D, dark chocolate ≥5 servings/week: 111 654 participants in subtype analyses
Incident T2D, milk chocolate
- No significant associations for milk chocolate intake
Weight gain
- Milk, but not dark, chocolate intake positively associated with weight gain
Original publication
Chocolate intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort studies. BMJ. Published 4 December 2024. doi:10.
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