Eating up to six bars of chocolate a week could reduce the risk of a potentially fatal heart condition by almost one quarter, a study by Harvard University suggests.
The research on more than 50000 people found strong links between regularly eating the treat and a reduced risk of a heart flutter.
The strongest association was found among men eating between two and six portions of chocolate a week - with a portion classified as 30g, or a small bar. Those doing so had a 23% lower risk of developing fibrillation of the upper chamber, or atrium, of each half of the heart, compared with those avoiding chocolate. Among women, the effect was linked to eating only one portion a week, which related to a 21% lower risk.
Atrial fibrillation doubles the risk of dying from other cardiac conditions, including stroke, heart attack and heart failure. It occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become jumbled, degrading its ability to pump blood .
Chocolate has previously been linked to other aspects of cardiac health. It is thought to have an anti-inflammatory effect.
Gavin Sandercock, reader in clinical physiology at the University of Essex, said the group eating the least chocolate - less than one portion a month - were far less healthy than all the others, making comparisons misleading.
"They had the highest blood pressure, were most likely to have hypertension, most likely to have high cholesterol and were twice as likely to already have heart disease," he said.
"They were fatter than all the other groups and the unhealthiest group in the whole study - which means that almost any other group would seem healthier."
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