Dark chocolate 'could fight heart disease'

Chocaholics rejoice - you may now have an excuse to indulge following the release of new findings by an Italian university.

Researchers at the Catholic University in Campobasso, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute of Milan, found that eating 6.7 grams of dark chocolate a day could reduce the inflammation associated with risk of heart disease and stroke.

Romina di Giuseppe, lead author of the study, said that an investigation into the health of almost 5,000 subjects and their chocolate intake found that those who ate small amounts of dark chocolate were less likely to suffer from inflammation.

"It is enough to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease by one-third in women and one-fourth in men. It is undoubtedly a remarkable outcome," she commented.

However, the downside is that this corresponds to only a small square of chocolate two or three times a week - any more than this would reduce any beneficial effects, the researchers said.

Dark chocolate is better in terms of health benefits than milk chocolate as it contains less fat and is higher in cocoa solids.

The higher the cocoa solid content, the better the chocolate's nutritional profile, with experts recommending a percentage of between 35 and 80 per cent.