Oligomeric procyanidins, an ingredient present in non-processed dark chocolate can help prevent obesity and diabetes, a new study finds.

The next time you have a craving for chocolate, pick up a bar of dark chocolate. Over the years, researchers have been exalting about the health benefits of dark cocoa and how the flavanols provide healthy antioxidants for the body. Now, a new study has found that a certain ingredient in non-processed dark chocolate can help prevent obesity and diabetes.

Researchers of the study found that the ingredient oligomeric procyanidins (PCs) prevented laboratory mice from gaining excess weight and lowered their blood sugar levels, according to a press release.

Cocoa, the ingredient of chocolate, is one of the most flavanol-rich foods. Though previous studies have highlighted that these flavanols present in grapes and tea can also help reduce weight, cocoa has an advantage over these foods. It has several different kinds of these compounds making it more effective in weight reduction and preventing diabetes.

"Oligomeric PCs appear to possess the greatest anti-obesity and anti-diabetic bioactivities of the flavanols in cocoa, particularly at the low doses employed for the present study," the researchers said in a statement.

For the study, researchers fed groups of mice high-fat, low-fat, and high fat diet with different kinds of flavanols. They found that the mice that were fed high fat diets with oligomeric procyanidins didn't gain any weight. The flavanol also improved glucose tolerance, which could potentially help prevent type-2 diabetes.

A previous study also found that dark chocolate can reduce plaque buildup in the arteries among other heart benefits. 

The current study was published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry.