RNS: Heart Healthy Valendine’s Day, February 2009
TIME: 2:34
URL: http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=1042
U-M Health Minute: Today’s top health issues and medical research
Valentine’s Day indulgences can be heart healthy
Suggested Lead: Valentine’s Day can be a time of indulgence... chocolate, wine, romance. It turns out, many of those indulgences, if taken in moderation, can be good for your heart! A University of Michigan cardiac surgeon shares some advice on setting the mood for a heart-healthy Valentine’s Day! Here is Andi McDonnell with more.
The sweet delights of Valentine’s Day are thought of as indulgences, but fruit, chocolate, wine and romance can be good for your heart, says a University of Michigan researcher.
Of course moderation is key when enjoying food and wine, but there are components in tart cherries, grapes and wine that can lower blood pressure and protect heart muscle. And a glass wine and massage can do wonders for lowering stress and anxiety.
Dr. Steven F. Bolling,(M.D.), professor of cardiac surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School explains . . .
“There are many fruits associated with Valentine’s Day, most commonly cherries, of course. In cherries there are compounds called anthocyanins, which also can be very good for your heart. Perhaps we could even take the cherries and dip them in the chocolate and make a very good, heart-healthy Valentine’s snack.”
Not any chocolate will do. Dark chocolate is the kind that contains flavonoids credited with being good for the heart.
Bolling recently published research on the benefits of grapes. A study performed in the U-M Cardioprotection Research Laboratory showed grape intake lowered blood pressure and improved heart function in lab rats. While more research should be done, the study results were encouraging.
Bolling tells us . . .
“People have asked the question which is better for you red wine or white wine? Probably wine itself is good for you, just because it reduces stress and anxiety; let’s not over do it. But red wine has specific agents, perhaps in the dark skin of the red wine grapes, that are heart- healthy and heart friendly.”
There are other activities associated with Valentine’s Day that are heart-healthy, including massage. In the hospital setting, massage therapy is used to help patients and their families relax and reduce anxiety. Reducing stress and anxiety has long been linked with benefiting the heart.
Bolling explains . . .
Andi McDonnell, U-M Health System News“Certainly, massage can lead to other activities that are heart-healthy. One can think of intimacy and sexual activity. Now, intimacy has been shown to really reduce stress and anxiety of course, and any activity that burns calories is probably heart-healthy.”
“All of these indulgences associated with Valentine’s Day really do not have to be limited to Valentine’s Day itself and certainly will lead to a much better heart-health status if we practice them everyday.”
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