Guilty Pleasures

individuals over 50 years of age. The United States Department of Agriculture also recently found eggs to be 14 percent lower in cholesterol and 64 percent higher in Vitamin D than previously recorded. Coupled with a heart-healthy diet of less than 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol per day, eggs can be included in your healthy eating plan.

Peanut butter

Unless you’re one of the 3 million Americans who are severely allergic to peanuts, there’s no need to avoid peanut butter in moderation. Some avoid peanut butter because of its high saturated fat content, but just because a food is high in saturated fat does not mean it is a forbidden food.

Chocolate

That sweet, delectable, melt-in-your-mouth treat is often maligned as having no redeeming value – just extra calories leading to weight gain. But actually, dark chocolates contain flavanols, antioxidants that have a blood-thinning effect which, in turn, can benefit cardiovascular health.

A recent study from Switzerland found that eating 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate – the equivalent of 4-5 Dove dark chocolate pieces, 40 M&M dark chocolate pieces or 12 Hershey dark chocolate kisses – per day for two weeks decreased stress hormones in highly stressed individuals. Be careful to monitor the amount of chocolate you eat, however. The amount of dark chocolate used in the study is equivalent to about 235 calories.

When asked, “White, milk or dark chocolate?” always choose dark. There is no evidence of any health benefits from eating white or milk chocolate. And if you are not a chocolate fan, there is no need to start eating it.

Eggs

Are you limiting your egg intake because of a concern for your heart’s health? Experts are now finding that a diet rich in saturated and trans fats is a bigger culprit in causing cardiovascular disease than dietary cholesterol.

Eggs are a good source of protein and contain the compounds lutein and zeaxanthin, which have been linked to a decreased risk for Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) – the leading cause of blindness in

The body needs saturated fat for a variety of purposes: to provide energy; help the body absorb certain nutrients such as Vitamins K, E, A, D and carotenoids; and cushion our organs and build healthy cell membranes. Yes, excessive consumption of saturated fats has been linked with an increase in cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer. But peanut butter is 20 percent saturated fat and 80 percent unsaturated fat. Compare those numbers to canola oil (7 percent saturated fat), olive oil (14 percent saturated fat), butter (70 percent saturated fat) or coconut oil (90 percent saturated fat).

Unsaturated fat helps to decrease the Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol in the blood which, in turn, decreases the risk of heart disease. If you are concerned with the sodium level of regular peanut butter, choose low-sodium peanut butter with an acceptable sodium-to-potassium ratio. Seek out fresh ground peanut but ter without sugar, corn syrup or other additives, but don’t pour the oil off the top in hopes of lowering fat content and calories. Doing so will not decrease the fat content of the butter; it will just make the peanut butter dry.

Caffeine

Many avoid caffeine – whether in coffee, tea, soda or specialty drinks – because they assume it has been linked to heart disease, pancreatic cancer, fibrocystic breast disease, osteoporosis, miscarriage or birth defects. In reality, many well-done, long range scientific studies have failed to prove a connection between caffeine and these medical issues.

Heavy coffee drinkers are more likely to eat poorly and smoke, which in turn increases the risk of osteoporosis and may be linked to birth defects and miscarriage. A study done on pressed European coffee did find a connection between