A new study conducted by experts at Harvard University shows that individuals who ate three squares of a large bar five times a week were 21 per cent less likely to develop the health condition that is caused by a diet full of junk food and sugar.

However, those who gorged on milk chocolate gained more weight and were at greater risk of the illness.

Professor Baukje de Roos, a boffin at the University of Aberdeen, commented on the research: "This is a first very large-scale analysis of an association of chocolate intake and self-reported Type 2 diabetes across three perspective cohort studies in the US. The distinctiveness of this research is that they specifically assessed which type of chocolate was linked to diabetes risk.

"As dark chocolate has a much higher cocoa content, this means that bioactive compounds in cocoa, and in dark chocolate, such as flavanols, may contribute to the lowering of diabetes risk, possibly by increasing insulin sensitivity."

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