Yes, that is a nice thing to hear on a Friday afternoon. It would seem that those who eat chocolate on a regular basis seem to have a lower chance of developing diabetes.
Published in the British Journal of Nutrition, the researchers looked at the data from over 1000 apparently healthy individuals and compared their chocolate consumption with insulin resistance, serum insulin and liver enzymes.
They found, that even after adjusting for age, sex, lifestyle factors and tea and coffee consumption, those that ate chocolate (the average being 28 grams per day) had lower levels of insulin and liver enzymes, which in higher amounts in associated with diabetes.
But before you run to the vending machine and indulge yourself guilt free, the researchers caution that chocolate also contains milk and sugar (and vegetable oil in the UK) so if you decide to include it in your diet be aware of your total energy input. Perhaps dark chocolate is the way to go…