Sweet Relief
Chocolate, coffee, honey and pistachios provide a fix that extends beyond mere indulgence
Pistachios lower your cholesterol, honey heals wounds and chocolate, well, it's the perfect food. You name it and you'll find that your favorite indulgence foods have taken on a healthful aura. Ingredients you were once told to eat sparingly may have the potential to reduce your cholesterol, moderate your glucose levels and more.
What gives?
The obvious good-for-you foods, such as carrots, strawberries and kale, are packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Now researchers are discovering that other foods derived from plants, including coffee beans and nuts, have unique and potentially healthful properties.
This means you can enjoy some of your favorite treats instead of banishing them, says David Grotto, Chicago, a registered dietitian.
"We're so comfortable demonizing a food. If you look at other cultures, none of those that have longevity demonize foods," says Grotto, author of "101 Foods That Could Save Your Life" (Bantam Books, 2008).
So, if you think a food can't be both a splurge and nutritious, here are five that might change your mind:
Chocolate
Dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa may reduce your blood pressure, according to several studies. However, processing can reduce the beneficial antioxidants in this treat. Grotto recommends selecting dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa for greater antioxidant levels. Look for 70 percent on the label.
Coffee
Along with caffeine, the beverage contains plant chemicals that may improve your glucose metabolism. Some studies show that women who drink coffee, especially decaffeinated types, have a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Honey
Have trouble staying asleep during the night? Taking a spoonful of honey before bed can help your body store the carbohydrate glycogen so your sleep isn't disrupted, says Ron Fessenden, M.D. and co-chairman of the Committee for the Promotion of Honey and Health, Haddam, Kan.
Keep a jar of unfiltered honey that wasn't heated beyond 110 degrees (the kind of honey you'll find in farmers' markets) in your medicine cabinet and spread it on scrapes.
"Honey is an effective anti-microbial against a broad spectrum of bacteria," says Dr. Fessenden, Denver.
Pistachio nuts
The lime green flesh of this nut indicates the presence of antioxidants including beta-carotene and lutein, according to Sarah K. Gebauer, a graduate student at Penn State University, University Park.
Pistachios' double whammy of antioxidants and monounsaturated fat may reduce your total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, (the bad kind), provided you include the nuts in a low fat diet, according to Gebauer's research.
Prunes
OK, maybe the wrinkled morsels aren't on your to-die-for list. But perhaps they should be. Prunes helped preserve bone mass in recent animal studies at Oklahoma State University. Now human tests are underway at Florida State University using post-menopausal women as volunteers. The results should be announced this summer.
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