Penn State researchers have found that cocoa can be a useful weapon in the fight against obesity-related inflammatory diseases like diabetes.
A hot cup of cocoa is an excellent way to ward off the cold during those chilly mornings. According to researchers from Penn State, cocoa can be a useful weapon in the fight against obesity-related inflammatory diseases like diabetes.
The study conducted on mice found that those that were fed a high-fat diet along with cocoa experienced a lower amount of inflammation than mice that were fed the same high-fat diet without cocoa supplements. The mice were given the high-fat diet with or without cocoa supplements for 10 weeks. During this period, the mice that were given cocoa consumed 10 tablespoons of cocoa powder which accounts for four to five cups of hot cocoa.
Joshua Lambert, associate professor of food science, found that while the effect on fat gain wasn't as much as he had expected, there was a dramatic reduction of inflammation and fatty liver disease. The consumption of cocoa powder supplements was also observed to reduce liver triglycerides levels in mice by more than 32 percent. Higher levels of liver triglycerides have been linked to signs of fatty liver diseases, reveals Shan Yu, a graduate student in physiology, in a press release. Not just this, the mice that consumed cocoa powder supplements also showed a significant drop in the rate of body weight gain.
Obesity-related chronic inflammation has been linked to several diseases in the past but scientists are yet to determine the reason for inflammation response.
Lambert confirms that though cocoa is commonly associated with chocolates,a high-fat food item, cocoa as an ingredient on its own has a low-calorie content, low-fat content and high-fiber content. He says that further studies need to be conducted to determine how cocoa reduces obesity-related inflammation and if it can be used as a treatment to cure inflammatory diseases as well as determine how safe such treatments would be for humans.
