This deep-fried sugary snack is so bad for you, it’s actually been proven to cause deadly strokes in men. Researchers from Glasgow University tested out the 1,200-calorie snack, which has been deemed Scotland’s most unhealthy snack, and found it’s so full of fat that it actually slows the blood supply to the brain. Since men have narrower arteries, they are most in danger.

“We’ve shown that eating a sugar and fat-laden snack can actually affect blood flow to the brain within minutes,” the study’s coauthor William Dunn, who performed brain scans on participants who voluntarily ate the batter-coated chocolate bars, told the Daily Record. “This reduction in the reactivity of blood vessels in the brain has previously been linked to an increased stroke risk – but the changes we observed were modest.”

The snack is served in almost a quarter of all the fast food restaurants in Scotland and the combination of the heavily processed food’s fat, frying, and carbohydrates can be lethal. There are up to 150 sold each week in many shops, but don’t the fried chocolate bar tempt you because according to the study’s coauthor Matthew Walters, a stroke consultant at Glasgow, “The deep-fried Mars bar has been cited as "all that is wrong with the high-fat, high-sugar Scottish diet. It is also a snack that the international community strongly associates with Scotland.”

It’s generally known when making the choice between baking, roasting, grilling, steaming, or frying, you make sure to avoid food plunged into a deep fryer in order to preserve your health. Frying foods increases high fat and calorie content so significantly it ruins the risk for a number of other health problems. A Mars bar is one of the most popular chocolate bars in the United Kingdom, and with its nougat, soft caramel, almonds, and chocolate milk coating, dipping it into a deep fryer doesn’t make it any better. Consuming fried foods more than four times a week increases the risk for obesity and heart disease, which includes strokes.

One London-based chef divulged the trick to developing the perfect fatty food to Daily Mail: “The secret to getting it right, is to make sure that the batter (flour, bicarbonate of soda, soda water, salt and a small amount of food coloring) is kept very cold,” Daniel Smalley said. “If you enjoy chocolate, it’s one of the best things to eat. It’s such a complex taste: all that hot caramel, fudge and melted chocolate. And then you’ve got the textures: the crunch of the batter alongside the gooiness of the chocolate and caramel. Just make sure you don't eat anything else for the rest of the week.”