ONE piece of dark chocolate a day could prevent heart disease and reduce insulin levels, scientists have discovered.

Revealing further benefits of cocoa to the body, research found that chocolate increases “good” cholesterol when eaten in amounts of between 200 and 600 milligrams a day. The benefits depend on the amount of cocoa taken, making plain chocolate better than white or milk varieties. Experts who orchestrated the randomised controlled trials (RCTs) claim the study shows the “urgent need” for more research.

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Report author Dr Simin Liu, professor and director of the Centre for Global Cardiometabolic Health at Brown University, USA, said: “Our meta-analysis of RCTs characterises how cocoa flavanols affect cardiometabolic biomarkers, providing guidance in designing large, definitive prevention trials against diabetes and cardiovascular disease in future work.”