diet

Wrinkled Wisdom – Love Chocolate?  Lose the Guilt!

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Americans gleefully gobble down almost three billion pounds of chocolate a year, about 10 to 12 pounds per person.  Okay, some of us scarf down even more.  

The seeds from the pods of the Theobroma cacao tree are the heart of chocolate.  Love that the Greek word for Theobroma translates to Food of the Gods.  Yes, we’re in heaven when munching on fudgy brownies and our favorite candies.

Heads up!  The words cacao and cocoa can cause confusion.  Cacao is the minimally processed seed of the tree that retains more nutrients and antioxidants.  The extra-processed cacao seed is called cocoa.  Lots of chocolate products list cocoa as the ingredient because it’s a word we all recognize.  Heck.  Can’t even figure out how to pronounce cacao…kuh-KOW or kuh-KAY-oh???

The natural plant compound theobromine is the key to the good news about chocolate, specifically dark chocolate, which contains the most theobromine.  Milk chocolate not so much and white chocolate very little since it’s made only with cocoa butter.  One comedian’s routine includes criticizing white chocolate as a prime example of an everyday corporate scam, joking that it is a fraudulent, disgusting impostor because it lacks the core solids found in real chocolate.

Theobromine has been linked positively to biological aging.  Yes!  A recent study indicated that people with higher levels looked better for their age!  Chocolate also delivers minerals like magnesium, iron, and copper tied to cardiovascular and metabolic health connected to how we age.

Some even call cacao a superfood because it contains more antioxidants than blueberries.  Researchers are currently studying whether concentrated doses of another plant compound in cacao, flavanols, which are full of antioxidants, can improve everything from eye disease to heart health, cancer risk, and cognitive abilities.  The powerful antioxidants in dark chocolate help blood vessels function, reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and boost moods and energy.  Sorry, milk chocolate lovers.  

Decades ago, pharmacists and doctors lauded chocolate as a miracle food to cure coughs, hangovers, and indigestion.  Benjamin Franklin thought chocolate might cure smallpox.  Wishful thinking, Ben!

Humans have been consuming chocolate forever.  There is evidence that the Olmec/Mayan people munched on chocolate 5,000 years ago.  They fermented pulp from cacao to create a drink with five percent alcohol.  Not exactly a chocolate martini, but betting it could give a bit of a buzz. 

In 1847, the British company J.S. Fry and Sons added sugar to chocolate and molded the first candy bar.  We get most of our chocolate from candy bars and snacks.  Nutritionists have actually named the “healthiest” candy.  Note the parentheses qualifying the use of the term healthy.  They list Snickers because its peanuts provide protein and the candy has less saturated fats.  Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars are next because of their simple ingredients and fewer additives.

Watching your weight?  A standard chocolate square is roughly 30 calories.  Willing to trade that for half a cup of Brussels sprouts??

Theobroma trees have lots of blossoms, but just 10 to 30 percent will produce a pod that survives to harvest.  A pod contains 20 to 60 beans, but it takes 400 beans to make a pound of chocolate.  It is a tough time for chocoholics.  Prices have spiked because of changing climate patterns and crop disease.  Some candy makers can no longer legally label their products chocolate because of reduced cocoa content to cut costs.  Might want to skip brands using the terms “chocolate-flavored” or “chocolatey.”   

So, our Wrinkled Wisdom for today?  Feeling a little down?  Eat chocolate!  Okay, don’t overdo it!  When serving chocolate desserts to family, brag about the benefits.  Keep chocolate away from pets; it can cause severe sickness.  Enjoy the line from the cartoonist who created the comic strip Peanuts: “All you need is love.  But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”

Wrinkled Wisdom – Are You Aiming to be a Centenarian?

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Getting old sucks!  Hear that often.  So why do almost 70% of adults want to live to be 79 to 100 years old and 9% gleefully hope to past 100??  Okay!  Okay!  We get it!  You want to brag about being centenarian. 

Most people won’t get their wish.  After the dip in lifespans due to Covid and the obesity epidemic, studies say we can now expect to live 77.5 years.  Heck.  That isn’t even old!  The number of Americans expected to reach 100 and older in thirty years, 2054, is only 422,000.  Today’s U.S. population is a bit over 340 million people.  Bad odds. 

We’re addicted obit readers.  We’re curious about the deceased’s age and cause of death.  89?  Not bad. 76? Too early.  56. Damn.  Actor Val Kilmer, 65, pneumonia.  Bummer!  Celebrities who made it to 100 or more include Kirk Douglas and George Burns.  Wow, Olivia de Havilland lived to be 104!  Like de Havilland’s obit, the cause of death is often not mentioned.  Obvious.  Old age!

No matter how long we live, we want to stay healthy.  And, boy, advice is everywhere…podcasts, television, streaming, radio, print, TikTok, and TED Talks.  We like the Power 9.  It was developed by a researcher who studied cities around the world with the oldest populations, dubbed the Blue Zones.  Only one was in the United States, Linda Loma, CA.   Hmmm…it is home to the cancer-fighting Proton Therapy Treatment & Research Center.

Power 9 recommendations are based on the lifestyle habits of these healthiest, longest living people.  We’re all in on the first of the nine: move naturally.  No pumping iron.  No gym memberships needed.  Just do house and yard work and plant gardens.  Yes!

Next, have some purpose.  Give your life meaning.  Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy.  Work on that one!   Thirdly, downshifting is suggested.  Yikes.  Didn’t know that stress leads to chronic inflammation associated with every major age-related disease!  Of the suggested ways to mellow out, we’ll take naps and do happy hours.  

All the Blue Zone inhabitants follow the 80% Rule.  It arises from a Confucian mantra that calls for stopping eating when 80% full.  Hmmm.  Maybe we’ll start with dessert?   Next is Plant Slant.  Yes, we all know we should eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Wine @ 5!  Love this one!  These oldies drink…every day.  Lots of wine.  But no drinking alone or to excess.  Hang out with friends.  So, booze is the answer? 

Belong.  Blue Zone people seek community.  Think senior centers, card clubs, Mahjong, arts and crafts, book clubs, and dance classes.  You CAN teach old dogs new tricks.  Dance classes are a twofer—they also hit the number one dictum: keep moving.  Lastly, loved ones first.  Friends and groups can be family, too.  But, hey, why no mention in the Power 9 of a good night’s sleep??

Switzerland boasts that it has numbers of retreats where they can teach longevity techniques and feed you anti-aging foods.  Hmmm.  We can eat berries, leafy greens, fatty fish, nuts, and avocados anywhere!  You can also travel to Switzerland if you have dementia, hopefully have checked off your bucket list, and want to call it a day.  Canada is the euthanasia capital of the world…and it’s a cheaper plane trip.  Here in the U.S., Death with Dignity is only allowed in some states if you have a terminal illness.

Got a giggle reading that an endangered giant tortoise at the Philadelphia Zoo has just become a first-time mom at around 100 years old.  The zoo thinks dad is about 96.  Geez!  How do they live so long?  They have strong immune responses and suppress cancer cells.  Ahh…good genes!

So, our Wrinkled Wisdom for today?  Put living to be a centenarian on your to-do list if you want to take a shot.  Start saving for those many tooth implants you’ll need.  Insurance doesn’t cover the entire cost and they cost a bunch.  Don’t give up dark chocolate!  It provides important antioxidants, whatever they really are.  And, remember George Burns’ fun line:  “By the time you’re 80 years old you’ve learned everything.  You only have to remember it.”

Wrinkled Wisdom – Is Healthy Eating Easy? No Way!

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Yes, we all know we need to eat a healthy diet.  Duh.  And, yes, we’re tired of being inundated with ads admonishing us to cut out processed foods.  

Apparently, health experts don’t realize how very confusing these ads are!  Any food is considered processed if it has been canned, cooked, frozen, pasteurized, or packaged.  Hey, it’s just fine to eat canned vegetables, frozen fruits, and pasteurized dairy products.  And, canned foods are essential to surviving the zombie apocalypse! 

It’s the highly processed/ultra-processed foods that are harmful to our health.  They are loaded with salt, sugar, additives, added colors, and preservatives.  We’re looking at you, chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas.  Sorry!   And, it’s not just foods.  Add to that list of no-nos some sodas, bottled smoothies, and energy drinks.

But, how do we know what’s ultra-processed??  Just read the label?  Tough. 

The best advice we can give is to stay away from stuff that has five or more ingredients, especially a bunch you don’t recognize and can’t pronounce.  Or try covering the front of the box, jar, or package and just read the ingredients.  Do you still know what you’re buying?

Beware of sugars that end in “ose.”  Beware of artificial sugars like aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-k, saccharin, and stevia.  A recent study just found that xylitol, a natural sugar alcohol (whatever that is) can cause heart attacks and strokes.  And, who would guess that salad dressings and toilet bowl cleaners have something in common – xanthan gum.  Maybe just put any product back on the shelf if one of its ingredients starts with an “x.” 

Those bad saturated fats have lots of names too: hydrogenated fats/oils, butter, cocoa butter, palm oil, coconut oil, lard, and suet.  And let’s not forget about salt.  Sodium chloride is table salt, but less obvious on labels are sodium benzoate disodium, disodium phosphate, brine, soy sauce, and the ever-famous MSG, monosodium glutamate.  Watch out for negative cholesterol build up from both.  Go easy.  Or not.

A few more facts about salt.  It’s essential for our bodies to function properly.  Salt’s ability to preserve food was a founding contributor to the development of civilization.  The Egyptians used it in mummification.  Roman soldiers got a salt allowance.  Ghandi led a Salt March in 1930, protesting Britain’s Salt Act that forced Indians to buy highly-taxed British salt.  Gotta have salt…especially on our fries. 

Upset to learn that bacon, sausage, lunch meat, and hot dogs are not only ultra-processed, but classified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.  We’ll ignore the fact that, technically, sliced bread also is ultra-processed!  Do look out for highly processed foods masquerading as healthy foods.  Breakfast cereal is a major offender along with flavored yogurts and granola, energy, and protein bars.  We love irony.

We all think organic foods are special, but a French supermarket found that half the organic products they sold were ultra-processed.  Sacré bleu!  That saves us guilt for not spending additional bucks on these more expensive foods!

Okay, we’ll smile smugly while snacking on raw veggies, almonds, and dried fruits.  But, screw it!  We aren’t giving up our favorite junk foods.  Bring on potato chips, Cheez-Its, candy, and ice cream.  And, who can give live without chocolates???

So, our Wrinkled Wisdom for today?   Shop the perimeter of your grocery store since most fresh stuff is along the edges.  Processed foods are in the middle aisles.  Oops.  Walk past the deli counter if you’re serious about eating healthy.  Don’t forget to bring your glasses for reading labels.  And, buy the natural peanut butter for the grandkids…without oils that extend shelf life and prevent it from separating.  Just find a tool to mix it before making the kids a PB&J.  We trust your creativity!  A corkscrew???  We know you’ve got one of those on hand.