To control your blood sugar levels with diabetes, it is important that you control your carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates are found in a wide variety of foods, from sugar, grains and legumes to starchy vegetables, fruits and some dairy. The American Diabetes Association recommends that you limit your carb intake to 45 to 60 g at each meal to keep your blood sugar levels within the desirable range of 70 to 130 mg/dL before eating and below 180 mg/dL two hours after your meal. If you enjoy the taste of chocolate, chocolates containing little added sugar can be incorporated into your diabetes diet. Cacao refers to the bean from cacao tree used to make chocolate and cocoa powder. Cacao and cocoa are often used interchangeably.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Unsweetened cocoa powder has a very low carbohydrate and sugar content, with about 50 calories, 3.2 g of carbohydrates, 1.6 g of fiber and 0.1 g of sugar per tablespoon. With diabetes, track your carb intake at each meal to estimate the impact of your food choices over your blood sugar levels. Counting available carbohydrates instead of total carbohydrate will help you better predict your blood sugar levels after eating. Calculate available carbs by subtracting fiber from the total carbs. In the case of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tbsp. contains 1.6 g of available carbs. You can use unsweetened cocoa power to add to hot or cold milk or to hot water for a delicious cocoa beverage. Remember that milk contains about 12 g of available carbs per cup. If you add sugar, every teaspoon of table sugar will add 5 g of carbohydrates. Artificial sweeteners, such as sucralose, will not add any carbohydrates.
Chocolate
Dark chocolate, containing at least 70 percent cacao, contains less sugar and carbohydrates compared to milk chocolate. For example, two to three squares, or 20 to 30 g, of milk chocolate provides 107 to 161 calories, 11.9 g to 17.8 g of carbohydrates and 0.7 g to 1.0 g of fiber, which corresponds to 11.2 g to 16.8 g of available carbohydrates. The same serving of dark chocolate, with 70 percent cacao, provides 120 to 179 calories, 9.2 g to 13.8 g of carbohydrates and 2.2 g to 3.3 g of fiber, which is the equivalent of 7.0 g to 10.5 g of available carbohydrates. If you include these available carbohydrates as part of your 45 g to 60 g allowed at each meal, your blood sugar levels should be well controlled.
Cacoa and Blood Sugar Levels
In a study done with obese mice, researchers supplemented the mice's diet with a cacao liquor rich in polyphenols, a compound found in cacao, for three weeks. Mice receiving the higher amount of cacao had a greater reduction in their blood sugar levels, according to an article published on NaturalNews.com in August 2007.
Amount of Chocolate
To ingest the same amount of polyphenols that helped mice reduce their blood sugar levels, humans would have to eat the equivalent of 2.5 kg of normal chocolate or 100 g of some special flavonol-enriched chocolate. Unfortunately, these types of flavonol-rich chocolates are not widely available, and eating 2.5 kg of normal chocolate would likely raise your blood sugar levels because of its carbohydrate content, in addition to make you gain weight. You can add unsweetened cocoa powder or dark chocolate into your diet, with moderation, if you enjoy it, but make sure it fits within your carbohydrate allowance to avoid elevating your blood sugar levels.
