Sweet news to warm your heart

A sweet tooth isn't necessarily bad for your health - at least not when it comes to chocolate, hints a new study.

Researchers studying more than 33,000 Swedish women found that the more chocolate women said they ate, the lower their risk of stroke.

The results add to a growing body of evidence linking cocoa consumption to heart health, but they aren't a free pass to gorge on chocolate.

"Given the observational design of the study, findings from this study cannot prove that it's chocolate that lowers the risk of stroke," Susanna Larsson from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm says.

While she believes chocolate has health benefits, she also warns that eating too much of it could be counterproductive.

"Chocolate should be consumed in moderation as it is high in calories, fat, and sugar," she says. "As dark chocolate contains more cocoa and less sugar than milk chocolate, consumption of dark chocolate would be more beneficial."

Reuters-AP