Byline: Pam DeFiglio Daily Herald Staff Writer
Hey, Cupid. Feb. 14 is made for indulgences, but this is one time you can go wild without remorse.
Valentine's Day, it turns out, can be good for you. Lots of things associated with the holiday have benefits for your health.
Really.
Valentine activity: Giving and eating chocolate.
Benefit: Heart health.
Go for dark chocolate with a high cacao content plus cocoa solids, which means less fat and sugar, says Dr. Joe Vinson, a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania who studies food.
'Relative to other desserts, chocolate is more healthful because it has a high level of antioxidants,' he says.
Chocolate contains polyphenols which lower blood pressure, raise your good cholesterol and improve the flexibility of your arteries.
'If you look at all the anti-oxidants in your diet, chocolate is the third leading source of them - not because you eat so much, but because it's so high in them,' Vinson says, describing the average American's consumption.
He recommends eating dark chocolate daily or almost-daily, but to keep portions small.
Valentine activity: Drinking red wine.
Benefit: Heart health.
The French promoted the fact that red wine helps keep your heart healthy, but luckily American scientists agree.
'The alcohol in red wine raises your HDL, your good cholesterol,' says Vinson. 'And it makes your arteries more able to respond to changes. I say it makes them more flexible - that's sort of a misnomer, but lay people can understand it.'
And enjoy it as well.
Valentine activity: Couples working out together.
Benefit: Heart health, better sex, weight loss.
Women are sometimes intimidated to go into a gym, and going with their guy can make it easier, says Fabio Comana, exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise.
'They can develop a support system for each other,' he says.
On the flip side, he cautions, partners can also aggravate each other if the more experienced exerciser pushes the novice too hard.
'It takes empathy,' he says.
Working out pays huge rewards in the bedroom. 'The general finding of research studies is that when both partners are in good physical shape, they have improved sexual function and performance and tend to have greater libido and sexual desire,' Comana says.
Even with a wow factor like that, he advises against surprising your partner with a gift certificate for personal training sessions for Valentine's Day - unless he or she asked for them.
'While your intentions may be positive, it could be misconstrued,' he cautions.
In other words, you might get the 'So I look fat?' reaction - never conducive to romance.
Valentine activity: Sex.
Benefit: Burns calories.
Any physical exercise burns calories, but the amount varies.
'If you go for a jog, how many calories will you burn? It depends on how vigorously and how long you jog,' says Comana.
'Vigorous sex will burn about 200 calories, but the question comes down to how do you define vigorous,' he says.
Just so you know, the large chocolate truffle that came with your heart-shaped box of candy has about 170 calories.
Plus, the exercise will help keep you in shape, and you know what that means.
'People in better shape tend to have better sex and more regular sex,' Comana says.
You can't argue with science.
Valentine activity: Giving and receiving flowers.
Benefit: Reduces stress.
Everyone knows that getting flowers makes you feel good. And studies back that up, reports Cynthia Greenwood, spokeswoman for the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe. One study, published in the April 1984 Science magazine and conducted by Roger S. Ulrich, found that the systolic blood pressure of a person looking at a nature poster decreases within five minutes or less.
And surely, a vase full of roses trumps a poster any day.
Valentine activity: Couples massage.
Benefit: Reduces stress.
Flowers are nice, but getting the tension out of your neck? Now that's living.
'When you take something so good, and good for you, as massage and share it with somebody you love, it makes you feel more of an emotional connection,' says Emmanuel Bistas, director of the New School for Massage, Bodywork and Healing in Chicago.
Massage has many benefits beyond relaxing you and reducing stress, he points out. Research shows it improves circulation, boosts the immune system and can relieve problems like headaches and lower back pain. It also has indirect benefits, such as soothing the built-up stress from work that causes you to yell at your kids.
You don't have to spend a lot. Bistas says a couple can get massages for as little as $30 each at a massage school's clinic. The New School has several couples coming in Wednesday.
'It's a nice date,' he says.
Valentine activity: Marriage proposals.
Benefit: Longevity.
Research shows married people live longer than single people, says Howard S. Friedman, distinguished professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside.
But there's a tiny catch.
'The evidence indicates married people live longer, but not necessarily because they're married,' he says.
No good studies show why marriage itself would help you live longer, so it's possible that people who are more stable, healthy, clean-living types are the ones who tend to get married, he explains.
It's probably true that if you drink heavily, don't have a job and lie on the couch eating pork rinds all day, you're not exactly prime marriage material.
Valentine activity: Sending and receiving Valentine cards.
Benefit: Longevity.
People who send and receive cards have social connections, and Friedman says solid research backs up the idea that people with social connections live longer. The evidence is stronger here than for the idea that married people live longer, he adds.
'There's much less evidence of premature mortality,' he says. 'The reasons are probably different for different people. Sometimes it's just that you get out more. For some, it's that your friends help you deal with challenges, and it reduces your stress.'
Hallmark will be happy to know all that.
pdefiglio@@dailyherald.com
