Eat a lot of chocolate over the bank holiday weekend?
Well, according to a new study you could be reducing your risk of heart disease by a third.
New research published in the British Medical Journal on Monday indicates a Mars bar a day really can help keep the doctor away.
Scientists from the University of Cambridge and universities in Colombia are to present their findings at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris.
They analysed previous studies which had found chocolate has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties – and concluded that eating a lot of it really does reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
But before you go straight to the nearest news agent, a word of caution – the research did not look into differences between dark and milk chocolate, and academics have warned that much of the calorific chocolate in shops could lead to weight gain and a risk of diabetes.
The authors maintain that “higher levels of chocolate consumption might be associated with a one third reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease”.