If you’re anything like me, you absolutely love chocolate! Frankly, I would eat chocolate for every meal if I could, as I just can’t seem to get enough of it!

While health professionals would never advise anyone to gorge themselves on chocolate, a new study has concluded that eating chocolate in moderation could actually have a very positive impact on your health!

The European Society of Cardiology in Munich has just published a study that found that three chocolate bars a month can reduce the risk of heart failure by 13% compared to those who don’t snack on them at all.

Researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York examined five studies that had 575,000 participants in total. They found that three chocolate bars a month helps improve blood vessel health and reduce inflammation, decreasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Before you get too excited, researchers also found that if an individual eats a chocolate bar for every day of the month, the chance of experiencing heart failure will increase by 17%. This increase occurs because of the high fat and sugar content in the dessert.

Dr. Chayakrit Krittanawong was the lead author of the study, and he explained that further research needs to be done to decode the complicated relationship between molecules in chocolate and heart health.

“I believe that chocolate is an important dietary source of flavonoids which are associated with reducing inflammation and increasing good cholesterol,” Krittanawong said. “However, chocolate may have high levels of saturated fats. I would say moderate dark chocolate consumption is good for health.”

Victoria Taylor, a senior dietitian with The British Heart Foundation, spoke out to warn that eating too much chocolate can prove to be damaging to a person’s health.

“This large-scale analysis suggests that enjoying a moderate amount of chocolate might protect you against heart failure, but too much can be detrimental,” she explained. “If you have a sweet tooth, make it an occasional small treat and go for dark chocolate with the highest cocoa content.”

There you have it, folks! Now you can enjoy three chocolate bars a month without feeling any guilt!