Go Ahead, Treat Yourself! Why Some Sweets Have Health Benefits

Podcast Transcript

Announcer:

Welcome to Love your Heart, brought to you by Cleveland Clinic's Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute. These podcasts will help you learn more about your heart, thoracic and vascular systems, ways to stay healthy, and information about diseases and treatment options. Enjoy.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Hello, my name is Julia Zumpano. I'm a registered dietician with the Department of Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation at the Cleveland Clinic.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

February is heart month. We also like to celebrate Valentine's Day in February. Today, I'm going to talk about fun foods that are good for your heart.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

We're going to begin with wine. Research has shown that red wine has an antioxidant called a flavonoid, specifically resveratrol that can help improve the heart. It helps with blood pressure, blood flow and inflammation. We do recommend that you ask your doctor before you begin drinking if you're already not a regular wine drinker. Try not to exceed a glass a day if you're a woman and two glasses a day if you're a man.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Berries are another very heart-healthy food. Berries have high amounts of soluble fiber and are packed with antioxidants. Soluble fiber can bind around bile in our guts, which can compose of cholesterol. It pulls that bile out with the body's waste and can lower that LDL or bad cholesterol.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

We have chocolate. Dark chocolate specifically has shown many positive benefits for our heart health. Dark chocolate is mainly made up of cocoa and cocoa is high in an antioxidant and flavonoids specifically called polyphenols. And polyphenols have been shown to help with blood flow, blood pressure, increasing good levels of cholesterol, the HDL. It also helps with inflammation and can help with insulin sensitivity, which can help control blood sugar values and keep them more in check.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

The other benefits of chocolate is that it tastes phenomenal. So it's wonderful tasting food that we can incorporate into our diet on a regular basis and know that we are serving and helping our heart.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

We want to keep the chocolate dark, so the cocoa is what's responsible for those benefits. So the darker percentage of cocoa, so 70% or greater, is really what we want to look for. So the darker, the more benefits, but also a little more bitter, so just keep that in mind. I recommend about an ounce of chocolate a day.

Julia Zumpano, RD, LD:

Enjoy these foods and have a wonderful February.

Announcer:

Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed the podcast. We welcome your comments and feedback. Please contact us at heart@ccf.org. Like what you heard, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or listen at clevelandclinic.org/loveyourheartpodcast.