Can we have a "Cake" and eat it?

   Some foods like chocolate and red wine are believed to bring some benefits for our health, no matter that they taste pleasantly as well. That is not always the case with some other tasty food, though. But thankfully there  are quite a  few of them. A lot  of people are  kind of  addicted  to  some products and habitually consume them day to day, month to month, even years to years. As mentioned earlier among such wine and chocolate to be named first. Why not get benefits from their healthy options?

   Actually, statistics  from Yahoo Search Marketing show a big increase in online supermarket sales  of wine and  chocolate. These  two posses  first and  second place accordingly. Among other popular products were pizza, coffee and water.

   Fruits  and such  drinks like tea, coffee, cocoa and  red wine  are main dietary sources of chemicals called poly phenols and other micro nutrients that are found in  plant-derived  food. In their  turn, poly phenols  contain flavorings, which  are believed to lower incidence of dementia.

    Dark chocolate, red wine, green  and white teas  are rich in antioxidants, that help in anti-ageing process. By the way, red wine contains four times as much of anti-ageing  properties as white wine. So, red wine  has more health  benefits so far.

   So why would red wine and chocolate bring the joy into your life? Not only you can eat  chocolate and drink wine, but stay healthy as well. Not all mixtures can boast  of such properties. But  always remember  that quantity does matter. Do not take the results of researches  as an excuse to get drunk and overeat on chocolate (does the  latter  is possible?). Not  to have  the opposite  results we, humans, have to avoid heavy alcohol drinking, so moderation in everything is the key. Staying healthy is all about wise decisions.

     A half to one glass  of red  wine per day  can help combat  heart disease and diabetes. In 2003, a Californian study published the results of researches. Among people  who drank red wine  in moderate quantities strokes took  place 40% less, there were  40-60% lower  cases of deaths  from coronary heart disease as well. Some of  other benefits  include better  cognitive  function and  reduced  risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, as mentioned earlier. The  reason for that lies  in grapes' seeds  used to produce red wine. Chemicals, those seeds contain, help improve the condition of  blood vessels  and have an influence on  lowering blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health in general.

  New studies also reveal that cocoa is actually higher in antioxidants than green tea. Actually, cocoa  beans can be the best source of antioxidant procyanadins. Along with red, wine cocoa food can be helpful in lowering cholesterol levels and thus boosting blood flow and reducing hypertension. Cocoa powder is also rich in minerals. And  the flavonoids  contained  in a quality chocolate  are found  to be more  powerful than some vitamins like ascorbic acid when protecting circulating lipids  from oxidation. So, how much is enough not to be too much? Four squares of chocolate high with cocoa content is enough to get such benefits.

   Yet another study proved good influence of red wine and chocolate on health. Researchers from  Oxford University  teamed up with fellow colleagues  from the Universities of Oslo and Bergen in Norway. The group of physiologists, anatomists and  geneticists  studied habits  of more than  2,000 people  in Norway.  Results showed that eating chocolate and drinking wine can improve our memory.

    Chocolate, to some  extent, can protect  from heart  disease and also is good for vascular system. Wine showed similar results  with people who consumed it in moderation. Professor David Smith from Oxford  University added: "What we have shown  is that foods  rich in flavonoids  can improve  the function  of the brain". Such  foods were  wine, chocolate  and tea. The team  reported their findings in the Journal of Nutrition.