‘Tis the season to be stressed, and if that leads you to reach for fatty foods, add a cup of good quality, hot cocoa to your indulgence. Researchers from the University of Birmingham in the U.K. found that the flavanols in cocoa combat the damage excess fat from foods does to your blood vessels.

High-fat foods negatively affect the function of blood vessels as well as oxygen delivery to the brain, says a University of Birmingham news release. However, the flavanols found in high-quality cocoa can protect vascular function damaged by stress and the high-fat foods we reach for while under duress.

According to Study Finds, fatty foods hinder the body’s vascular recovery but drinking high-flavanol cocoa helps blood vessels remain stable after a stressful event and even improves them. The U.K. researchers found that study participants who drank cocoa that was low in flavanols didn’t experience the same benefits. In fact, their blood vessels got worse and stayed in poor shape for 90 minutes after a stressful event.

For the study, published in Food & Function, researchers recruited a group of 23 young healthy adults and gave them a breakfast of two butter croissants with salted butter, cheese and whole milk. They were then given either a high-flavanol or low-flavanol cocoa drink. The subjects were asked to perform an eight-minute math test that was designed to be stressful.

The participants who drank the low-flavanol cocoa had reduced vascular function (poor circulation) that lasted an hour and a half after the test. On the other hand, the high-flavanol cocoa prevented the decline in vascular function. Jet Veldhuijzen van Zanten, professor of biological psychology at the University of Birmingham, said that stress in modern life affects our health so we should protect our bodies from its negative effects in any way possible. For those who don’t care for cocoas, she suggested the following foods that also contain flavanols:

• Green tea

• Black tea

• Berries

• Apples

“This research shows that drinking or eating a food high in flavanols can be used as a strategy to mitigate some of the impact of poorer food choices on the vascular system. This can help us make more informed decisions about what we eat and drink during stressful periods,” noted lead author, Catarina Rendeiro, assistant professor in nutritional sciences at the University of Birmingham.

A previous study, published in Frontiers in Nutrition, found that cocoa has a beneficial effected on cardiovascular health by reducing blood pressure, improving vascular function, regulating glucose and lipid levels, and reducing the aggregation of platelets.

The recommended daily intake of flavanols is between 400 and 600 milligrams daily, says Study Finds. You can reach that by drinking two cups of tea, eating berries and apples and consuming high-quality cocoa. To find good cocoa, look for powders that are non-alkalized and have been minimally processed.