>>...eating chocolate at least twice per week appeared associated with a one-third lower risk of developing coronary artery plaque.

This fits well with the most plausible etiology of arteriosclerosis I've run across:

- arteries become less elastic.

- less elasticity means higher momentary peak BP

- LDL/VLDL particles are driven between epithelial cells lining the arteries by this higher pressure.

...and we know the rest (inflammation, immune cells becoming foam cells, cholesterol coating, calcification)

I'd expect that all of us over 50 have lost artery elasticity. The medical establishment focus has been on LDL (quantity not particle count, but that seems to be changing)

I've run across an interesting theory on the dietary connection being individual cells trying to maintain fluidity/flexibility homeostasis of cell walls., SFAs being less flexible than PUFAs. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33471045/

I haven't seen any research that might disprove this. So far, the objections seem to be theoretical...