The study found that, compared to people who ate no chocolate, those with a higher intake had an 11 per cent lesser risk of cardiovascular disease and a 25 per cent reduced risk of associated death.
Here are five other reasons you can use to justify slipping that block of Dairy Milk into the shopping trolley.
Chocolate can help you avoid a cold
A University of Auckland study found that eating foods containing flavonoids - found in foods such as green tea, apples, blueberries, onions, red wine and cocoa - significantly reduced the likelihood of catching the common cold.
The research found adults were 33 per cent more protected from colds if they ate flavonoids or took flavonoid supplements, compared with those who didn't.
Chocolate can help prevent wrinkles
A Cambridge University-linked lab has developed 'esthechoc', an antioxidant-rich chocolate which promises to combat wrinkles and sagging skin. Its makers claim it can change the underlying skin of a 50 to 60-year-old into that of someone in their 20s or 30s.
A small 7.5g bar of the chocolate contains the same amount of the antioxidant astaxanthin as a fillet of Alaskan salmon, and equal levels of free radical-fighting cocoa polyphenols to 100g of dark chocolate.
Research found adults were 33 per cent more protected from colds if they ate flavonoids, found in chocolate and red wine. Photo / Getty Images
Chocolate can stop age-related memory loss
Research from the Columbia University Medical Centre in New York found that the flavanols - not to be confused with flavanoids - in chocolate can give people in their sixties the memory of a "typical 30- or 40-year-old".
The antioxidants in cocoa led to faster and clearer recognition of visual patterns for chocolate-eaters in the study, compared to those who didn't eat chocolate.
Chocolate can make you happier
Something people have known dating all the way back to the Mayans and the Aztecs - chocolate makes you feel good. In fact, it is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug.
Chocolate is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug. Photo / Thinkstock
Chocolate is basically a smorgasbord of feel-good chemicals, such as 1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine (aka caffeine), which increases heart-rate and muscle contraction, and serotonin, a natural neurotransmitter which controls many functions in the brain, including mood and behaviour.
Chocolate can help in the bedroom
The flavanols in chocolate also help increase bloodflow, which can give it a Viagra-like effect for men. Aztec ruler Montezuma is said to have downed 50 cups of a chocolate drink before visiting his harem. Swiss-based chocolate giant Barry Callebaut have developed a technique to concentrate levels of the chemicals so you don't have to drink quite so much before retiring to the boudoir in future.
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