By Julianne Will
If you really love someone, you make them eat their vegetables.
That’s what you tell small children anyway, right? You make them eat their vegetables because you want them to feel great and be strong. You want them to have good eyesight, like all those carrot-eating rabbits. You want them to have muscles like spinach-popping Popeye. You care about their health, so you feed them icky Brussels sprouts to improve it.
Why not apply the same logic to your Valentine’s Day gifts for your friends, family and loved ones this year? Show them you really care, not with broccoli but with gifts equally as good for them. Consider these gifts from the heart that actually benefit their hearts.
Like chocolates. Really! Dark chocolate contains flavenoids, plant-based compounds that have an antioxidant effect, repairing damage in the body and shielding cells from environmental toxins. The Cleveland Clinic will tell you more about eating chocolate smartly.
Maybe you have mad cooking skills of your own. Make the apple of your eye a well-balanced dinner. Start with a salad: dark leafy greens for antioxidants, tomatoes for lycopene and walnuts for omega-3s, which reduce inflammation that can lead to heart disease. Use a simple olive oil dressing for monosaturated fat, the good kind…
