The one thing you should eat if you are overweight

​Chocolate is rarely associated with health - but we finally have good news for you chocoholics.

A new study conducted by the American Heart Association has discovered that eating chocolate at least five times a week will reduce the risk of heart disease.

Before you start stuffing you face with Mars bars, this benefit only applies to a certain type of person.

Via: Giphy

The research found that eating that amount of chocolate will only help someone if they are classified as overweight and are susceptible to coronary artery disease.

This is due to the fact that impact of the chocolate on the heart being small and therefore of no benefit to those people who do not suffer from the disease, have a healthy BMI or are classed as underweight.

Previous research has found that minimally produced dark chocolate is good for the heart as it is high in antioxidants, which boosts blood flow, fights cholesterol, lowers blood pressure and stops clots.

They came to this conclusion after studying the eating habits of 148, 465 US military veterans who take part in the Million Veteran Program.

According to the Daily Mailparticipants are monitored for two-and-a-half-years and have an average age of 64.

They were all asked how often they consume 28 grams of either milk or dark chocolate, minus any flavouring.

At the start of the study none of those involved suffered from any kind of heart related problems but by the end some 4,055 had experienced a heart related event in this period.

The results showed that those that ate at least five servings of chocolate a week where unlikely to be in that number, whereas those that didn't eat chocolate were more prone.

This doesn't mean that you should start eating chocolate like it is going out of fashion - but it is something worth thinking about.

Via: Giphy

HT Lad Bible

More: Chocolate makes you smarter, study suggests​