Striving for Perfection: In Search of the Perfect Meal

A study was recently published in the British Medical Journal that claims to have determined the perfect combination of foods to keep you healthy. Well, they actually meant that it would seriously reduce your risk of heart disease, but since that’s the leading cause of sickness and death in Western societies, the claim could have some validity. But bear in mind as you read this that the highlighted foods are aimed solely at reducing heart disease… not cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, or any of the other ills that might befall you. The study, by the way, was sort of a response to the “polypill” that was promoted last year…a combo pill that included aspirin, folic acid and cholesterol-lowering and blood pressure drugs. This “polymeal” is thought to bring about the same results minus the cost and side effects.

So then, what are these magic foods? Let’s start with the fun one first: wine! Apparently people who consume 150 ml (five ounces) of red wine each day reduce their risk for heart disease by 32 per cent. This is not to suggest that if you’re a tee-totaler you should start boozing it up, but if you already enjoy wine in moderation, then take heart! In actual fact any alcoholic beverage will raise the levels of your good cholesterol—the HDL—the added benefit of the wine comes from its ability to reduce platelet clumping.

The next food on the list is fish. I know you’ve heard this before, but it seems pretty certain that having fish four out of 21 meals a week (fatty fish like salmon is best) will further reduce your risk by 14 percent. I’ve previously mentioned that there is some concern about heavy metals like mercury in large fish like shark and tuna, so don’t overdo it. Also, I’m pretty sure that deep-frying your fish negates any possible benefit.

And now for a really fun food…chocolate! The researchers found that daily consumption of 100 grams (three and 1/3 ounces) of dark chocolate was just about as good as drinking wine (who ever said that nutrition was dull?). But think about it: that amount of chocolate is going to add roughly 500 calories to your daily diet. Something is going to have to come out or you’ll gain weight. And if the something that comes out is a nutritious food then your diet will suffer. This recommendation requires some careful consideration.

Next comes a food group that will be no surprise: fruit and vegetables. The researchers included these foods for the obvious reasons but especially because studies have shown that people with a 400 gram (almost a pound) of fruit and vegetables in their daily diet had a greatly reduced risk of high blood pressure. What they didn’t mention, for reasons that I can’t fathom, was the fact that in the blood pressure research milk and milk products had an even greater impact on lowering blood pressure than did the fruits and vegetables. Also the milk group has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer, obesity, osteoporosis and kidney stones, so I’m adding three servings of dairy to the list.

Two more foods to go…and the first is (drum roll please)…garlic! Personally, I don’t know how to deal with this one. Though I do enjoy dishes with garlic as an ingredient, I’m not keen on taking in three or four cloves of the stuff at one time. Even the researchers acknowledged that odour and gas were downsides to the garlic. Your decision. I used to joke that claims associating garlic consumption with fewer colds were due to nobody coming near the garlic consumer because of the smell; I’m not sure that applies to heart disease. At any rate I’m much more comfortable with the final food in the list: nuts. Actually, they said almonds, but they must have missed the mountain of evidence that other nuts like walnuts and pecans are also beneficial.
So there you have it: the view of some experts as to what constitutes the basis of a heart-healthy diet. Please note that they didn’t suggest that these were the only foods you should eat, just that you should routinely consume them. I’m surprised they didn’t include berries in the list, but perhaps they felt they would be part of the fruit and vegetable intake. There is, however, considerable evidence that berries in and of themselves are cardio-protective. The bottom line for me is that it’s nice to have scientific evidence that wine and dark chocolate are good for you. One final note: another piece of research (and this is one of several similar studies) found that frequent pizza eaters had half the incidence of heart disease as non- pizza eaters. Doesn’t get any better than that, does it?