That's Fit

A reduced risk of cardiovascular disease has long been associated with the antioxidant properties found in red wine. The high level of polyphenols can help keep arteries unclogged and the heart pumping at a healthy rate. Well, it turns out that these same polyphenol compounds may help prevent against fat storage.

A recent Israeli study found that the polyphenols found in red wine help your body block the absorption of fat. And, just in case you're not much of a wine drinker, it seems as though similar results can be obtained from red wine marinades.

To make your wine shopping more enjoyable, why not try visiting some of your local vineyards? There, you'll be able to sample many of their unique varieties during a wine tasting. For a listing of vineyards in your area, visit Wine and Times, the website that allows you to plan your own winery tour anywhere in the U.S.

It looks like it may be time to pop open another bottle of Cristal, playa. Nothing screams decadence and unnecessary expenditure like this choice champagne, which is why it flows like water in so many hip-hop videos. But it turns out that paying $250 per bottle may actually be worth it in the long run.

The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry published the results of a recent joint study by the University of Reading and University of Cagliari that showed moderate consumptions of Champagne may help the brain cope with the trauma of stroke, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. Antioxidants found in red wine -- called polyphenols -- are also found in abundance in champagne.

I know what you must be saying -- why spend $250 on a bottle of Cristal when you can spend about $10 on a bottle of Korbel? There are two reasons: 1 - Cristal is made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, the two varieties scientists linked to the greatest reduction of stroke risk, and 2 - Because you'll be carrying around the coolest medication of all time.

The reported cancer-fighting properties of red wine were recently studied by French researchers, who reported in The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) that high doses of polyphenols -- the active antioxidants in red wine -- can shut down and prevent cancerous tumors.

So, how much wine does one have to drink to obtain the health benefits of polyphenols? An entire bottle per day!! But, since drinking an entire bottle of wine every day isn't really healthy in most other ways, a better approach to get this large amount of polyphenols is to follow a diet rich in fresh produce.

This, of course, doesn't mean I'm suggesting that you cork your bottle of red wine for good. Oh contraire. Drinking one glass of wine per day can still provide some degree of protection against certain types of cancer, as well as ailments of the heart and circulatory system.

For several days now, I've been writing an ongoing series of diet and fitness posts titled "Why the Pounds Are Sticking Around," which are a collection of tips sourced from the health magazine Self. Since the response has been so positive, I decided to forge ahead with an idea I had for a series of healthy living posts. Since exercise and training are more my forte, I sought out information from an outside source -- Men's Health magazine. To that end, I found ten great health and wellness tips that I thought would be perfect for pieces on healthy living.

So, just as I have been doing with the diet and fitness posts, I will also be posting one healthy living tip per day as part of a series I think I'm going to call "Living Well." I think you'll find these tips to be as interesting and as helpful as I did.

Healthy Tip #4 - Wine and fine

The antioxidant properties of red wine have long been linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. The high level of polyphenols can help keep arteries unclogged and the heart pumping the way it should be. Well, it turns out that these same polyphenol compounds may help prevent against fat storage.

According to the article in Men's Health, a recent Israeli study found that the polyphenols found in red wine help your body block the absorption of fat. And, just in case you're not much of a wine drinker, it seems as though similar results can be obtained from red wine marinades.

Here's to your health ... and your figure!!

Whether your apple of choice is a Granny Smith, empire, gala, red delicious (which, in my opinion, are ironically the least tasty of all apple varieties, but I digress ...), or McIntosh, it doesn't make too much difference as far as your health goes. The important part, so it would seem, is to make sure that you're eating an apple of any variety. That's because the old adage that "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" seems to be quite true.

Apples contain high amounts of polyphenols, which offer a host of health benefits. Specifically, apple polyphenols were shown in laboratory studies to lower blood cholesterol and also inhibit triglyceride absorption. Such protective effects make apples a powerful fighter against heart disease and diabetes.

Apples make a healthy and tasty snack as-is, but you may also want to try slicing one into sections and dipping them in small amounts of peanut butter. The peanut butter will join the apple's fiber content in making digestion take a bit longer, thereby making you feel satiated for a longer period of time.

You're concerned about your health. You make dietary decisions based on these concerns. Knowing that tea has beneficial effects on blood pressure, you've tried to down a cup or two each day. But, how much do we actually like tea? Sure, it's tasty enough, especially some of the funky flavored kinds, but let's face it, a nice cup of hot cocoa tastes a hell of a lot better.

Surprisingly enough, that same cup of cocoa may actually be better for you, too. German scientists a while back released findings showing that patients who drank cocoa for two weeks had a marked reduction in their blood pressure -- comparable to the reduction typically seen in people taking prescription blood pressure medication. Tea and cocoa contain polyphenols, which is known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. But, it seems as though the type of polyphenols contained on cocoa -- known as procyanids -- are more active than the polyphenols found in tea.

Of course, this doesn't mean that it's time to start dipping entire bars of dark chocolate into hot cocoa and devouring each bite. Chocolate still contains quite a bit of fat, sugar and carbohydrates, so consumption should be kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, it's good to know that it doesn't hurt (but instead actually helps!) to indulge in some chocolate every now and again (especially dipped in hot chocolate -- something I just thought of doing and will be sure to try in the very near future).

The next time you sit down to eat a big juicy hamburger, instead of pouring yourself a glass of soda or a milkshake, consider reaching for a glass of apple juice. Certain substances in apple juice help reduce the level of the so-called "bad" (LDL) cholesterol and may protect against heart disease.

Even better, drink cloudy apple juice, often labeled 'natural.' it contains as much as four times the polyphenols as the clear types. These antioxidant chemicals in apple pulp are also believed to reduce your risk of cancer.

Apples have always played a role in a healthy diet. For decades, if not hundreds of years, we've been told to eat an apple a day to maintain our health.

Lucky for us: We now know that the healthy components are not just in apples, but they are in the juice as well (the cloudy juice anyway) ... and that's something we can all drink to.

Who knew that when you toast to your health, the response time was so quick? Well, it turns out that champagne can help reduce inflammation, thereby reducing your risk of heart disease.

Spanish scientists found that drinking 10 daily ounces of cava (a Spanish sparkling wine) for a month, they experienced a twenty-five percent reduction in blood markers of inflammation.

Cava, like red wine, contains a considerably high level of polyphenols, which studies have shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, Alzheimer's and arthritis.

To your health, indeed.

More good news about dark chocolate, this time for those suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

It seems dark chocolate, which contains a high cocoa content and no milk, can alleviate CFS symptoms like no other chocolate can. And this makes it a tried and true prescription for patients of this condition who are urged to consume moderate amounts of the dark stuff.

Researchers believe it's the polyphenols found in large quantities in dark chocolate that do the trick because they affect levels of serotonin in the brain. The chocolate doesn't seem to affect weight gain, though. Participants didn't put on any pounds during dark chocolate pilot studies.

I don't know about you but for those plagued by profound fatigue, this seems like one great recipe for relief!

Drink green tea! You hear it everywhere. Green tea has been linked to heart health and cancer prevention, and recently even been touted as a possible way to reduce rheumatoid arthritis pain.

But as with nearly everything, too much of a good thing is not a good thing. A review of recent research found that when people ingest too much green tea -- especially in supplement form -- they run the risk of developing liver or kidney damage. Though the polyphenols in tea are beneficial in moderate doses, they can be toxic at high levels. Green tea supplements can contain 50 times more polyphenols than a single cup of green tea.

Experts say that even 10 cups of green tea a day is safe, but that if you're taking supplements you may want to watch your dose because it's easy to go overboard.