“Flavonoids also help to relax blood vessels, which improves blood flow and reduces blood pressure.”

However, he warned: “You should be looking for dark chocolate with at least 70 percent cocoa content.

“Milk chocolate and white chocolate do not have the same health benefits.”

What does analysis say?

One examine, printed within the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism in 2010, discovered that darkish chocolate might assist shield the mind within the occasion of a stroke.

As a part of their analysis a workforce from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine fed a bunch of take a look at mice a single dose of epicatechin, a compound discovered naturally in darkish chocolate.

90 minutes later they induced an ischemic stroke (a stroke attributable to a clot) by reducing off the blood provide to their brains.

They discovered that the animals that had preventively ingested the epicatechin suffered considerably much less mind harm than those that had not been given the compound.

Study lead Sylvain Doré mentioned: “Even a small amount [of epicatechin] may be sufficient.”

But he emphasised that not all darkish sweets are created equally, as some have extra bioactive epicatechin than others.

“The epicatechin found in dark chocolate is extremely sensitive to changes in heat and light” he added.

“In the process of making chocolate, you have to make sure you don’t destroy it. Only few chocolates have the active ingredient. The fact that it says ‘dark chocolate’ is not sufficient.”

If you suppose somebody is struggling a stroke you need to name 999 instantly.