Two tablespoonfuls of dark chocolate a day is good for your health, a new study has found.
The sweet treat has a similar biochemical effect to aspirin and can reduce the likelihood of blood clotting.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health made the discovery when 139 people were disqualified from a larger study looking at the effects of aspirin on blood platelets.
These "offenders" were told to to refrain from indulging in a number of foods known to affect platelet activity - including chocolate. But they could not break their habit.
Professor Diane Becker said: "What these chocolate 'offenders' taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to aspirin in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack."
Researchers have known for almost two decades that dark chocolate can lower blood pressure and has other beneficial effects on blood flow.
The latest findings, which will be presented at the American Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago, identified the effect of normal, everyday doses of chocolate found in ordinary foods.
"Eating a little bit of chocolate or having a drink of hot cocoa as part of a regular diet is probably good for personal health, so long as people don't eat too much of it, and too much of the kind with lots of butter and sugar," Prof Becker said.
