Eating a few pieces of dark chocolate five times a week may help reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, new research has found.

The study involved 192,000 non-diabetic adults who filled out a series of questionnaires about their eating habits, including how much and what kind of chocolate they ate. About 19,000 people under the age of 34 developed type 2 diabetes. People who ate 28 grams of any type of chocolate at least five times a week were 10 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than participants who rarely or never ate chocolate.

But when the researchers looked more closely at a group of about 112,000 participants who provided more detailed information about what type of chocolate they ate, they found a reduced risk of diabetes only among those who ate dark chocolate. People who ate dark chocolate at least five times a week were 21 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. In contrast, milk chocolate was not associated with a reduced risk, but with weight gain.

Experts say dark chocolate is a healthier option for chocolate lovers.

“The higher amount of cocoa and polyphenols in dark chocolate may partially offset the negative health effects of the sugar and saturated fat typically found in all types of chocolate,” says nutritionist Toby Amidor.