Posted on 12/17/2004 2:25:19 PM PST by Rodney King
Chocolate, wine can aid heart By Sharon Labi December 17, 2004
A DAILY meal of seven ingredients including wine and chocolate could cut heart disease by 76 per cent, Australian researchers have found.
The diet comprising wine, fish, dark chocolate, fruit, vegetables, almonds and garlic, would also increase life expectancy by more than six years in men and five years in women.
Researchers at Monash University, in Victoria, and the Erasmus University Medical Centre, in The Netherlands, studied the effects of the "polymeal" to see if its benefits could match those of a polypill.
Research last year into a polypill found the combination of drugs in one dose could reduce heart disease by more than 80 per cent.
Dr Anna Peeters of Monash University said the meal was almost as effective as the pill.
"We found that if you took this kind of meal and this combination of ingredients, that you'd have an increase in total life expectancy, and for men it was about six and a half years and for women it was about five years," she told AAP.
"If you take this polymeal idea, then you get more years free of cardiovascular disease and less years with cardiovascular disease and that was quite a significant finding."
The seven foods were picked for their benefits on cardiovascular disease, and although olive oil was known to be good for the heart, not enough solid data was available to include it, Dr Peeters said.
But the inclusion of wine and chocolate was good news, especially in the lead-up to Christmas.
"It's been known for a long time that they are both beneficial for cardiovascular disease, they have antioxidant properties," Dr Peeters said.
"On their own, the level of effect is only 14-20 per cent but it's in combination with all these others that you get such a big reduction (in cardiovascular disease) of 76 per cent."
However, it was not open slather on the ingredients: the recommended daily intake was 150ml for wine and 100g for dark chocolate.
Apart from running the risk of boring the palate, eating a diet of only seven ingredients required further study.
"We're not advocating that people should take this particular set of ingredients for the rest of their lives. It was more a paper to illustrate that using a dietary combination, you could get effects similar to pharmaceutical combinations," Dr Peeters said.
"It's really just to show that a healthy diet potentially can have the same effects as a polypill."
Dr Peeters said the polymeal was an effective, non-pharmacological, safe, cheap and tasty alternative to the polypill.
The research was published in this week's British Medical Journal.
We're gonna live forever!
I already gorge on everything but the fish. Perhaps I should eat more . :-)
"wine, fish, dark chocolate, fruit, vegetables, almonds and garlic"
Do we have to eat them all together?
I love all of those except the almonds.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, okay. Sounds good. Let's do it.
Put them in your Cuisinart and push "puree".
;-)
Mail the almonds to me! I love 'em!
I'll remember that if I get any for Christmas! Your card went out today :-).
{{{{{C}}}}}
I am still on the hunt for a good pic for our cards. I got the gifts together for the step-daughters in Alaska but still haven't mailed them. This is lame for me. I am usually printing labels and harrying my mailman the day after Thanksgiving.
PS: We are forcasted for 5 degrees on Sunday. BBRRRRRRRRRR!!!
I'm boozing for you, Sister! You take the chocolate!
Freeze yer knees! It's not quite that cold here, yet, but we have a Winter Storm predicted for Sunday. My parents are supposed to come Monday, but if the airport is closed ...
I'll have more cards going out tomorrow. Some years I'm way ahead, and some years I don't do anything, and this year is in between :-).
Me too..... I'll pay the postage!
;-)
Chocolate is a fifth food group. I had a PhD tell me this, so it must be true.
Oh, absolutely! There's so much variety! (But they didn't include pizza :-(.
Thanks for all the Pixburgh pings, my FRiend. A Merry Christmas to you and yours and go Stillers!
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