You’ll be glad to know that all of this isn’t about giving everything up. In fact, your favorite vice may be your new medicine – all in moderation of course!!!
Let’s start with two of my favorites: chocolate and alcohol. Yes, as it turns out, research suggests that chocolate is actually beneficial. Yup. Chocolate contains compounds called flavonols, that have been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and decrease blood clotting.
All I have to say is thank-you, God.
Those of you who are not already doing cartwheels around the office and calling all your friends, notice I said chocolate is beneficial. I didn’t say chocolate cake, or hot chocolate, or fudge. It’s just the chocolate that’s good – not the other stuff that gets added to it. So before you go out and buy a pound of Hershey’s kisses, keep in mind that milk chocolate is off limits. Not only does the milk chocolate have lots of unnecessary sugar and fat – it often has hardly any actual chocolate! In the US, a product marketed as chocolate has to have at least 10% pure chocolate or cacao- but in Europe, it only has to have 1%. I’m shocked on two fronts. First because all those Cadbury eggs I had as a kid, were hardly made of any chocolate at all, and second, because Americans apparently appreciate the value of real chocolate more Europeans. That’s progress. If they the FDA would up that number to 50%, I’d stand up and sing the national anthem.
The sort of chocolate that is lifestyle 180 endorsed is the slightly bittersweet, dark kind- 70% cacao or above. Lucky me, because this is my favorite!
Now if you are the bemoaning the loss of that sickeningly sweet stuff, let me enlighten you on the merits of dark chocolate. First off, you cannot buy low-quality dark chocolate that has more than 70% cacao. It doesn’t exist. So that invariably means that you are now consuming a refined category of chocolate. You are now above milk chocolate. Milk chocolate is for the common masses, like wine that comes in a box or beer in 40 ounce bottles. It’s for people who don’t know any better.
Granted, elite chocolate is going to cost you a little more, but all the more reason to savor it slowly. Second, if you pair it with something sweet, like fruit, you can get the sweet taste without the added sugar. The other night I watched my boyfriend eat a giant bowl of Edy’s Butterfinger ice cream on the couch. I very nearly asked him for a bite – I’m human after all—but instead I fixed myself a freshly sliced mango and 8 squares of dark chocolate from chocolove (my new favorite candy company – you can buy them at Heinen’s or order online), and I didn’t envy him one bit.
To enhance that experience I also treated myself to a glass of Malbec, which (hurray for red wine!!) is also a beneficial food group. You may be thinking, what? I thought alcohol was full of calories! Well it can be. But moderation is key. In addition to the resveratrol in red wine – a compound thought to reduce the risk of heart disease and possibly cancer , there appear to be cardiac benefits from moderate alcohol consumption of any kind. Just keep in mind that more than 2 drinks for men and 1 for women negates all the health benefits, and can actually be harmful. But if you slip up once in a while (as we all do) and have an extra glass of wine, feel free to have a cup of black coffee afterward (skip the milk and sugar!), because that’s good for you too. Who says you can’t be healthy and have a little fun?
***Incidentally there are lots of foods and spices that have health benefits!
Tomatoes contain lycopene which is an anti-oxidant. Onions have anti-cancer and cardiac benefits. Garlic prevents blood clots. Chili peppers are high in antioxidents (did you know a red bell pepper has more vitamin C than an orange?) andturmeric, a spice commonly found in Indian Curry dishes has anti-inflammatory effects. Lifestyle 180 chef, Jim Perko, swears that adding turmeric to his diet cured his leg cramps. But one thing to keep in mind, is that in some cases the benefit has been shown to be enhanced by cooking (tomatoes and tumeric for example), and by consuming with a small amount of fat.