The Delightful Duo: Two Heart-Healthy Gifts

Posted by Judy on 2/07/12

Categorized as Blog

The Delightful Duo: Two Heart-Healthy Gifts

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and naturally you are wondering about what kinds of gifts to give your sweetheart. Since the symbol of Valentine’s Day is the heart, add additional meaning to your celebration this year and consider these two traditionally romantic gifts that come with benefits for the heart – dark chocolate and red wine.

Dark chocolate has a higher cocoa content than milk chocolate, and it is this higher content of cocoa that gives dark chocolate its health benefits. The cocoa (cacao) bean is rich in cell-protecting antioxidants, which help to neutralize free radicals in the body and prevent disease and cellular damage. Dark chocolate also contains additional health-boosters, including the vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, and E, and the essential minerals magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese. Medical studies have shown that dark chocolate lowers blood pressure, improves blood flow, exhibits mild anti-clotting effects and may help to prevent plaque formation in arteries. When you are choosing your heart-healthy chocolate gifts, keep in mind that the higher the cocoa percentage in the chocolate the better. If the chocolate does not specify a percentage, look for semisweet or bittersweet chocolate on the ingredients label; both are considered to be dark chocolates.

Like dark chocolate, red wine is also high in antioxidants. One antioxidant in particular, resveratrol, has become the subject of numerous health studies over the past two decades. A chemical compound produced in certain plants as an antibiotic to fight bacteria and fungi, resveratrol is found in the skins and seeds of grapes and has demonstrated real benefits for the heart. Studies have shown that resveratrol lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol, raises HDL (good) cholesterol, and helps to prevent blood clotting and plaque formation. Resveratrol has also other demonstrated health benefits: it has anti-inflammatory properties, helps fight insulin resistance and counteracts the formation of fat cells. Red wine contains greater amounts of resveratrol than white wine because the skins of white grapes are removed before fermentation, while the skins of red grapes are included in the fermentation process.

And finally, there is one more reason to consider these heart-healthy Valentine’s Day gifts – they go great together! Fine red wines and luxurious dark chocolates are a classy gift combination that’s sure to please any Valentine.