Chocolate linked to lower cardio disease risk, study suggests Regular chocolate consumption may lower Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) risk, according to a study, which identifies cocoa content and flavonoid amounts in chocolate types as possible reasons for this link. Work carried out by the research team found regular chocolate consumption was associated with an 8%–12% lower risk of CAD among a group of veterans. Further work deemed the food’s consumption to have no effect on cardiovascular disease risk in veterans with type 2 diabetes. “The amount of chocolate consumption needed to confer a lower risk of CAD varies across studies,” the team discovered.