Recent researches have given chocolate lovers another reason to reach out for that extra bar, by revealing that consumption of a little bit of chocolate every week manages to cut back the risk of suffering a stroke, while also lowering the risk of dying from one.

A latest review of recent studies on chocolate and the risk of suffering strokes discovered that at least two large-scale studies suggest that there are definite health benefits of chocolate consumption as far as lowering of stroke risk goes.

While the first study revealed that 44,489 people who ate one serving of chocolate a week were about 22% less likely to suffer strokes, as compared to those who did not eat chocolate, the second study showed that 1,169 people who consumed 50 grams of chocolate every once a week managed to cut their risk of strokes by 46%.

"More research is needed to determine whether chocolate truly lowers stroke risk, or whether healthier people are simply more likely to eat chocolate than others", researcher Sarah Sahib, BScCA, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, said.

Results of the review are all set to be presented in April at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Toronto.