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Consumed in moderation, coffee, chocolate and wine are treats that can improve your physical and mental well-being.
Recent nutrition science has revealed specific health benefits associated with moderate consumption of coffee, dark chocolate, and alcoholic beverages (especially wine). Such findings have surprised many people whose view of these treats is prejudiced by the obvious negative effects of their overconsumption. But in my view the scientific discovery of health benefits associated with coffee, dark chocolate, and alcohol should not have surprised anyone, because other sorts of evidence of their healthfulness has existed for centuries.
Indeed, one piece of evidence of the healthfulness of coffee, chocolate and wine is the very fact that humans have enjoyed these treats for centuries. Each was incorporated into the human diet in more primitive stages of societal development, when bad nutrition choices had a great impact on survival and therefore could not be retained. Nothing in the human diet that was incorporated as long ago as coffee, chocolate, and wine is bad for our health unless consumed in excess.
It’s modern food processing methods that produce inherently unhealthy foods. Coffee, chocolate, and wine are made with primitive processing methods and are therefore much closer to nature than modern treats such as Pepsis and Hot Pockets. Coffee is nothing but ground coffee beans brewed with hot water. People have been drinking coffee since the 9th century, or possibly earlier. Dark chocolate is nothing but the roasted seeds of cacao beans mixed with cocoa butter (plus a little sugar and vanilla, in the modern version). It has been consumed for more than 2,000 years. And wine is nothing but the juice of fermented grapes. Its origins go back more than 45 centuries.
Coffee, chocolate, and wine all became popular for the same reasons: they tasted good and they made us feel good. Feeling good is healthy—a fact that is underappreciated, as are the effects of nutrition on mood and mental state. I myself started drinking coffee in my mid-20s, when I was going through a post-breakup depression and I read a newspaper report about a study that found the suicide rate was lower among coffee drinkers than among non-coffee drinkers. Other studies have found that the rate of depression is lower among moderate alcohol drinkers.
As for chocolate, scientists have identified two compounds in chocolate that promote positive mood states. These compounds inhibit the breakdown of a brain chemical called anandamide that is responsible for causing feelings of euphoria. In fact, the active ingredient in marijuana creates a “high” by binding to the same brain receptor sites as anandamide. In other words, chocolate makes us feel good by more or less the same means marijuana does. This fact may partially explain the existence of “chocoholics.”
It is also significant that there are connoisseur cultures surrounding coffee, chocolate, and wine. There is something about the flavors of these unique treats that offers the opportunity to explore and refine our sense of taste. Enjoying a fine glass of wine is a very different experience from that of enjoying a cheeseburger. The latter has to do with a deep-seated survival instinct that motivates us to gorge madly on energy-dense foods to protect ourselves against starvation in subsequent times of scarcity. But enjoying coffee, chocolate, and wine is not about stuffing your belly with calories; it’s about slowing down and relishing good flavors.
It has been suggested that, in these times of overabundance, those who slow down and relish their food are less likely to get fat. This notion is more or less the thesis of Mireille Guiliano’s book, French Women Don’t Get Fat, and I think there’s something to it.
Coffee, chocolate, and wine are not the foundation of a healthy diet, but I believe they can make a healthy diet even healthier, when consumed in moderation. They do so by promoting positive mood states, by encouraging us to slow down and truly enjoy our experience of taste, and by providing little rewards for eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and saying “no” to fried foods.
My prescription is one 12- to 16-ounce serving of premium coffee in the morning, one piece of gourmet dark chocolate after lunch and perhaps again after dinner, and a single glass of fine wine either after work or with dinner. Go ahead and become a connoisseur: buy whole coffee beans, grind them at home, and brew with a French press. Order dark chocolate through the Internet, and maybe even join a chocolate club. Try wines that are recommended on sites such as www.winespectator.com, where you can also learn the art of wine tasting.
Oh, I almost forgot: Those recently discovered health benefits of coffee, chocolate, and wine. The health benefits of coffee come from its caffeine content and its unique blend of antioxidants. According to Harvard Medical School, “Studies show that the risk for type 2 diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers than among those who don't drink it. Also, coffee may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, discourage the development of colon cancer, improve cognitive function, reduce the risk of liver damage in people at high risk for liver disease, and reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease.” Coffee also enhances exercise performance.
Dark chocolate is rich in a flavonoids and polyphenols—two types of antioxidants. These compounds improve blood flow and lower blood pressure by helping the blood vessels relax and expand. Dark chocolate has also been shown to increase insulin sensitivity, help prevent diarrhea, reduce fatigue in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, and reduce the stickiness of blood platelets, thus potentially lowering the risk of heart attack.
Moderate alcohol consumption also improves heart health by increasing levels of HDL cholesterol and lowering levels of LDL cholesterol and through other mechanisms. In addition, moderate alcohol consumption is proven to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity and reducing systemic inflammation. Moderate drinkers even tend to live longer than both heavy drinkers and teetotalers.
Wine is an especially good choice of alcoholic beverage because it, too, is rich in antioxidants. Red wine contains significantly higher levels of antioxidants than white wine.
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