I have a fascination with food - especially food I CAN’T EAT (at least only in moderation)

I have compared food to relationships, to careers and most recently…how you choose to date certain people. As Valentine’s day approaches, I was thinking about relationships, my free meal that day and this new study from Science Daily (posted below) It made me think of something I recently wrote.

On my myspace blog I talked about a funny comparison between chocolate and broccoli:

Is your man chocolate or broccoli??? 

I have an inside joke.

So here’s the deal: I have TONS of girlfriends…tons of single gals who go on dates with guys who are either:

1) Hot and Sexy

or

2) Average and Nice

I have coined the term CHOCOLATE and BROCOLLI. (I used these metaphors due to my fitness-y background. OH! And this is a phrase copyrighted by Maria Kang J/K!)

Men who are Chocolate are those who are just SINFUL to be with. Like chocolate, it tastes good, you crave for it, you LOVE IT, but in the long run…it’s just NOT good  for you.

Men who are Brocolli are those who are GOOD for you. Like Brocolli, it’s bland, kinda tasteless, you don’t really like it, but you’ll eat it…because in the long run…it’s IS good for you.

haha - now the joke’s out! Whatya all think?

mmmmm….yummy!

hmmm….sure, why not?

—
From And For The Heart, My Dear Valentine:Broccoli

 ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2008) — Wishing your Valentine good heart health on February 14 — and throughout 2008?

Then consider the food some people love to hate, and hand over a gift bag of broccoli along with that heart-shaped box of chocolates. Researchers in Connecticut are reporting impressive new evidence that eating broccoli may protect against heart disease.

Researchers have known for years that broccoli is a rich source of antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber that may protect against cancer, Dipak K. Das and colleagues note. Other studies also suggest that broccoli may benefit the heart, although scientists do not know how it works.

Das and colleagues now report evidence on that topic from animal studies. They gave broccoli extract to lab rats for one month and measured its effects on the rats’ heart muscle. Compared to a control group that ate a regular diet, the broccoli-fed animals had improved heart function and less heart muscle damage when deprived of oxygen. Broccoli’s heart-healthy effects are likely due to its high concentrations of certain substances that seem to boost levels of a heart-protective protein called thioredoxin, the researchers note.

The article “Broccoli: A Unique Vegetable That Protects Mammalian Hearts through the Redox Cycling of the Thioredoxin Superfamily”  is scheduled for the Jan. 23 issue of ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Adapted from materials provided by American Chemical Society.

 
Eat it.
It’s good for you!