While it’s very rare for someone to live past the age of 100, it’s even more rare for someone to make it past the age of 110. That’s what made it so incredible that Giuseppina Projetto lived to the age of 116, and she was the oldest woman in Europe until she passed away on July 1.

Projetto was born in March of 1902 in La Maddalena in Sardina, and she lived in a small village near Florence from the 1960s onward. When she was told by her grandson that she had become the oldest woman in Europe in December of last year, she responded, “Really? And exactly how old I am? So many?”

Her daughter-in-law, Guilia Mannozzi, was not surprised by the news.

“For us, the age of grandma is normal: people fill us with questions but with this exceptional life I have been dealing with it for 50 years,” she said.

Projetto attributed her long life to two things. The first is a positive attitude, and the second one is chocolate! Yes, Projetto believed that her love of chocolate played a large role in her living a long life. In fact, she once said that she could not go one day without eating chocolate!

Mannozzi describes the 116 year-old as someone who “lives of habits” and said that, “she chews badly, but for the chocolate at the end of the meal, she always finds a solution.”

Believe it or not, Projetto may be on to something in touting the benefits of chocolate. The healthiest kinds of chocolate are dark chocolate and cacao nibs, which are often referred to as “superfoods.” Chocolate has been shown to help prevent cancer, dementia, and strokes!

Find out more about the benefits of chocolate in the video below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!