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Integrative Health

Live longer with dark chocolater, juicy portobellos, and pure happiness.

by Elizabeth Barker

Pass the Portobello

Choosing mushrooms over meat could go a long way in cutting your calorie intake, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center. For four days, study members ate lunch entrees loaded with meat, then switched to mushroom-based meals the following week.

Even though the meat-heavy lunches were far heartier—containing 420 more calories and 30 more grams of fat per meal—participants “seemed to accept mushrooms as a palatable and suitable culinary substitute,” notes study author Lawrence Cheskin. What’s more, study members didn’t make up for the lower-calorie mushroom dishes by eating more food later in the day.

Past research shows that by swapping hamburgers for portobello mushrooms for a year, men could cut more than 18,000 calories and 3,000 grams of fat.

A Chocolate Cure for Inflammation?

A small square of dark chocolate a day could help shield you from heart disease, a new study from the Journal of Nutrition suggests. Sizing up data on 4,849 healthy adults, researchers found those who regularly ate modest amounts of dark chocolate had 17 per cent lower blood levels of C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation). That reduction might be significant enough to slash heart disease risk by a third in women and a fourth in men.

Dark chocolate is rich in potent antioxidants that may help fight inflammation, which is considered a major risk factor for heart disease (as well as cancer and diabetes). To make the most of the sweet stuff’s heart-protecting effects, the study’s authors recommend eating 6.7 grams a day (or about half a chocolate bar each week).

C’mon, Get Happy

When it comes to living long, happiness may be as powerful as abstaining from smoking. Analyzing 30 studies on health and happiness, a research team from Rotterdam’s Erasmus University discovered that—although it may not increase longevity among the seriously ill—happiness can substantially lengthen the lives of healthy people.