| serfer |
Posted
on 06-Feb-02 01:08 PM
Though you would enjoy this!!!
Source: MSNBC.com
Jan. 24, 2002 -- Sex, wine, chocolate, an afternoon nap -- we love to indulge in our favorite pleasures, don't we? Well, it's nothing to feel guilty about. Gratifying those desires can have great health benefits -- boosting immunity, warding off disease, toning the body. In fact, a bit of indulgence can be satisfying for both body and soul.
Among those great indulgences:
Kissing, of course. Kissing may boost your immune system, since there's much germ-sharing when we lock lips, according to Helen Fisher, PhD, researcher in romantic love and professor of anthropology at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J.
Kissing is meditative, too, quelling that stressful buzz in your brain, says Joy Davidson, PhD, psychologist and clinical sexologist in Seattle. "Kissing is an excursion into the sensual," she tells WebMD. "It heightens the experience of being present in the moment ... the lusciousness that we need to pull us out of the mundane."
A serious, tongue-tangling French kiss exercises all the underlying muscles of the face -- which could keep you looking younger, and certainly looking happier.
A tongue-in-cheek tip: That extra saliva washes bacteria off your teeth, which can help break down oral plaque, says Mathew Messina, DDS, a private practice dentist in Fairview Park, Ohio. "But I would not go around advocating kissing after meals instead of brushing," he adds.
Sex sparks a good calorie burn: Yes, sex burns calories, and if you're in the heat of passion, you might burn calories that equal a brisk walk, says Bryant Stamford, PhD, professor and director of the health promotion center at the University of Louisville. Just don't confuse great sex with a cardiovascular workout; it's not the same as jogging, he says. During sex, that's pure adrenaline churning through your system. Lovemaking releases tension, but the act of stimulating nipples -- that's what triggers the release of oxytocin, a hormone that creates a bond, adds Fisher. (Reason for guilt: not practicing safe sex.)
Chocolate is good for your heart: This object of our passion lifts the spirit. Chocolate affects the body in the same way as the chemicals released in response to romance, says Debra Waterhouse, a registered dietitian and the author of the 1999 book, Why Women Need Chocolate.
And cocoa and dark chocolate -- more than Dutch chocolate and other types -- help keep arteries from clogging. They are rich sources of flavonoids, compounds thought to slow the damaging effects of LDL, the villainous cholesterol, says Penny Kris-Etherton, a distinguished professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. Her study appears in the October 2001 American Journal of Nutrition. Cocoa and dark chocolate also seem to raise HDL, the good type of cholesterol. Of course, too much chocolate puts your waistline at high risk of expansion -- but a little bit every day may be good for you.
Drink to your heart health: A little wine at dinnertime -- just a glass or two a day -- seems to be just what your heart needs to stay healthy, says CDC scientist Ann M. Malarcher, PhD, MSPH. Her study appears in the January 2001 issue of Stroke. Wine has those all-important flavonoids, which have a positive effect on cholesterol. Wine also appears to open up arteries and increase blood flow, thus lowering the risk of the clots that cut off blood supply, according to a study published in the January 2000 issue of European Heart Journal. Previous studies have shown that flavonoids also slow the growth of breast, prostate, liver, and oral cancer cells -- and even strengthen bones.
Tea is a healthy brew, too: Whether it's plain black, green, or flavored, a cuppa tea has many health-promoting properties, according to John Weisburger, PhD, researcher at the American Health Foundation. His study appears in the April 2000 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Several studies have credited tea with providing a barrier to cancer, reducing heart disease, and strengthening bones in post-menopausal women. Researchers say that tea's antioxidants may be 100 times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times more effective than vitamin E at neutralizing free radicals -- the destructive by-products of the body's natural chemical processes, explains Weisburger.
Nut lovers, take heart: Nuts may get most of their calories from fat -- but it's unsaturated fat. In fact, eating nuts can lower your risk of heart disease, according to several studies, including one in the November 1998 British Medical Journal. People who add nuts to their diet -- cashews, almonds, and peanuts -- may have less LDL (bad cholesterol) to gum up their arteries. Nuts are a good source of the antioxidant vitamin E, which has also been linked to lowering heart disease, according to a study in the July 1999 Clinical Cardiology. And nuts are a great source of protein, as well, unusually rich in an amino acid called arginine, which opens up and relaxes blood vessels, says Gene Spiller, PhD, founder of the Health Research and Studies Center in Palo Alto, Calif., and author of Healthy Nuts.
Then, there's napping -- the great restorative:
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